Hillary Clinton

Empathy and a Moral Compass during Chappaqua’s Lights for Liberty Event

July 14, 2019 by Inside Press

If the speeches at a Lights for Liberty vigil on July 12 in New Castle–one of some 750 such vigils nationwide–shared any one theme, it would be encouraging empathy; and moreover, it would be the “radical empathy” that Secretary Hillary Clinton described as necessary to continue to fight.

By Grace Bennett

“The fact that you feel trauma means you’re still feeling, you’re still showing compassion and boy do we need that right now,” Hillary Clinton said during her surprise visit together with Bill Clinton at the Town gazebo where she joined other speakers invited by the event’s local sponsor, Left of Main Street, a Chappaqua-based, national organization which supports progressive issues, legislation and candidates.

“We need radical empathy right now,” said Clinton. “We need to put ourselves into other’s shoes and try to relate to that mother who encountered violence…”

First to speak, New Castle Councilwoman Ivy Pool extolled the Chappaqua community as a tolerant and welcoming community to all. She also pointed out “the tremendous gap between the good fortune, beauty, and comfort of our lives here in Chappaqua and the inhumane and unjust conditions that children of migrant populations face.

“Moral Compass”

“My kids are and continue to be in all decisions that I make–my moral compass… But for an accident of birth that children here were born in Northern Westchester Hospital and not in Central America… I’d like to believe that I would do anything to protect the safety and health of my child, and have the courage to leave behind my family and friends to endure dangerous travel conditions and seek asylum for my family if we were faced with the life-threatening violence and persecution.

“Most of us have never been so threatened,” said Pool. “We are challenged to respond with empathy, love and generosity.”

Professor Vanessa Merton, director of the Immigration Justice Center at the Pace University School of Law, said that she “won’t dwell on the lice, the feces, the cruelty and sexual assaults and deprivation of food or decent medical care.” She did drive home the anxiety any parent feels being separated even for the shortest period.

Professor Vanessa Merton also took questions from those gathered after speaking about immigration justice.

“Do you remember being at the shopping mall or beach, and if you became separated for even five minutes… the abject fear you felt? These parents or guardians are experiencing that all day, every day, and with constant knowledge that their children are in fact in danger. She described the experience the children are having as ‘stunting’ and ‘soul crippling.’

She also described working with families who risked their lives, “who have given up everything they have because they are fleeing a state sponsored terror in the Honduras and in Guatemala.

“These are not just war lords. These are transnational criminal syndicates that rule every aspect of people’s lives. Small business owners who tried to pay the taxes imposed wake up to find the body parts of their children scattered around.”

“Vicarious Trauma”

Dr. Jeanne Devine, a licensed clinical psychologist with a specialty in neuropsychology, said that stress hormones released during trauma results in lifelong impairment. “There’s a new generation of people that we have harmed. This isn’t just for today. This is about people we are going to have to help find a way to take care of later on.” She also expressed concern for the mental health among those who resist. We are all experiencing “vicarious trauma,” she posited—”every time you get teary, every time your heart crunches, every time you scroll past something because can’t read one more thing.”

A Policy “Infused with Cruelty”

Hillary Clinton said that Lights for Liberty represented a way to come together to address what’s happening at the border, “to do whatever we can to stand up for those who are voiceless.

Left of Main Street founders Ann Styles Brochstein (right) and Cynthia Gray-Ware Metcalf with Secretary Hillary Clinton

“This is not about open borders; it’s not about saying that anyone who can come to America at any time. Those who are trying to make it that are deliberately trying to confuse the issue. We can have secure borders and be a humane nation that treats people with dignity and compassion. That should be our goal.”

She further noted that if the administration had a “serious interest in dealing with the challenges of the border, that is what we would be doing.”

The border situation calls out for more properly trained immigration judges “enforcing the law and not shortcutting it,” said Clinton, who also suggested that we could have a functional data system. “There are literally thousands of children who have been separated and no one in this government knows where they are… I fear greatly they will never be reunited with their families...

“Think about never seeing your parents and family again because you were deliberately snatched away with no effort to try to track you in this system that has been set up… This is a policy that is infused with cruelty. It is a cruel, unfeeling, unfair, meanspirited policy that is not solving the problem because the problem is deeply imbedded in poorly governed, violent countries on average the most violent in the world, with the highest homicide rate–higher than in some conflict zones.”

The response of the Trump administration, she said, has been to cut off all aid to those countries. A better approach, Clinton suggested, would be for the U.S. to help these countries with rule of law, “and frankly to help them with their economic problems too (”a failed coffee crop, a failed banana crop”) so people wouldn’t feel compelled to leave. We do have the capacity to respond to the most complicated problems–if we choose to do so.”

She recalled that during her time as Secretary of State, there were efforts to establish facilities and hire personnel within the capitals of those countries to try to process asylum “so people wouldn’t have to take the dangerous route north and bring their children with them. She said during one trip to Central America “there were discussions over the kind of assistance we could provide that would try to end the corruption and malfeasance of the existing governments and put into place some programs that would begin to diminish the violence.”

“We have helped to do that in other places over the last 30 years; we could be doing that right here.” Particularly disturbing targets for deportation have been people serving in the U.S. military, Clinton noted. “They signed up under a program that they would serve in the military and then be put on a fast track to citizenship. “They have already been deported after combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now their spouses and children being targeted. There’s no justification for this policy.”

Clinton encouraged those gathered to keep fighting and “reclaiming the values of our country that are under so much stress and attack right now.” Striking a lighter note, she mentioned the stress causing construction on Route 120, the redevelopment project known here as Streetscapes. She joked that she chose Chappaqua’s vigil over others because it was the closest. She advised that residents take their resilience to that into the political environment.

(L-R): Secretary Hillary Clinton, New Castle Councilwoman Ivy Pool and President Bill Clinton: Greeting Congresswoman Nita Lowey upon arrival.

Helen Harrison, a Chappaqua ESL Teacher, described how some of her students at Greeley have expressed their fears to her. Since 2016, she said she “has spent many days helping different students cope–helping them understand the rules of what their rights are should ICE come knocking…. There are many kinds of people living here (in New Castle), and they are all part of the community; together we will overcome.” Harrison also led everyone gathered holding candles in singing We Shall Overcome.

Secretary Hillary Clinton & President Bill Clinton with Congresswoman Nita Lowey

Congresswoman Nita Lowey arrived as a final speaker: “You don’t take babies and little ones through such hardship unless you are desperate,” said Lowey who noted that she was planning a trip to the Homestead Immigration Detention Center in Miami where she aimed to be given a full tour “and not just one room.” “Have you heard of Homestead?” she asked. “That’s where John Kelly runs quite an operation.” Lowey lamented the situations of the men and women “undergoing so much stress to find a better life for their families and children.” She then ‘spoke’ to Trump: “I do remember, Mr. President, when we had all kinds of glorious plans to help those countries in the northern triangle because there is corruption, there is crime and there are people who can’t take care of their families.

“When you think of what they go through to come to America and just be part of the American dream… for me as member of Congress, it’s not only painful, but an embarrassment, because we worked so hard to fund a whole range of assistance programs.”

Grace Bennett is founder, publisher and editor of the Inside Press, Inc., since 2003.

It’s A Family Affair: Local Award-Winning Father & Son Filmmakers

May 31, 2019 by Ronni Diamondstein

The Kunhardts Produce Documentaries That Shape Our World and Focus on Moral Leadership

For Peter Kunhardt, a six-time Emmy and a Peabody Award winner, collaboration with family is in his DNA. As Executive Producer and Director, Peter partners with two of his sons, Teddy and George, at Kunhardt Films to produce critically acclaimed and socially relevant documentaries about the people and ideas that shape our world.

After ten years as a producer at ABC News, Peter gave up the hectic commute to New York City and founded Kunhardt Productions in Westchester in 1987. His first film project for HBO, JFK: In His Own Words, was in collaboration with his father, Philip B. Kunhardt, Jr., the longtime managing editor of Life Magazine. He had watched the toll that forty years of commuting from Chappaqua took on his father. Peter and his wife Suzy were raising their family in Chappaqua and he wanted to work closer to home.

A Family Business at Heart

“It’s definitely a family business with multiple departments,” says Peter Jr. All the Kunhardt children interned with their father. Peter Jr. worked on two Lincoln books with his father and grandfather. He is now the Executive Director of the Meserve-Kunhardt Foundation and the Gordon Parks Foundation that preserves the work of photographer Gordon Parks and educates the next generation of scholars and students on his work.

Teddy and George joined their father at Kunhardt Films in 2009. George knew as a teen that filmmaking was his future. Teddy, an artist and chef, took a slight detour and ultimately joined his father’s company. Both brought their gifts and talents.

“My skill set and interests are the creative and the technical. I’m more of the people person, in the trenches on filming and working with my crew,” says George whom his father and brother call the “peacekeeper.” “He’s the best spokesman for the company,” says Teddy.

Teddy’s skill set is the business side: deals, the budgeting and more of the legal side, dealing with the lawyers. Their father Peter is overarching, and knows everything about everything says George. “He sits back and listens and chimes in when needed when he has something appropriate or important to say.”

“I listen hugely hard to both Teddy and George. Frankly, they are taking over more and more of what I used to do, and I continue listening,” says Peter. They agree 95% of the time, but Peter will have the last word when they disagree.

While their business office is in Pleasantville near the Jacob Burns Film Center and Metro-North, which were draws for this location, most of the team is in New York at HBO.

“We are fortunate to be partners with HBO. People would be surprised to learn how long it takes to produce a film, and HBO gives us the time we need,” says Teddy. “Pleasantville is the brains, the budgeting, the pre-development side of the projects, and the heavy lifting of producing,” says George. “The HBO team is young, creative, hip and where the exciting culture of filmmaking is done.”

(L-R): George, President Bill Clinton and Teddy

(L-R): George, Hillary Clinton and Teddy

(L-R): Teddy, John McCain, George and Peter

Exploring Moral Leadership Through Film

The notion of moral leadership is always their default in selecting subjects for their films. “Years ago, we said we wanted to explore this concept of moral leadership,” says Peter. “In this day and age of what we’re experiencing now it seems to be a more and more important thing to be doing to remind people what true leadership and true moral courage look like. Fortunately, we were a little ahead of ourselves picking an important kind of theme early on. That’s why it takes us so long to pick the people.”

“And sometimes you have to wait for the hook,” says Teddy. The hook for King in the Wilderness was the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s death. He was on their list in 2009 but the film did not come into fruition until 2018. “We couldn’t have found a home ten years ago, but once the anniversary was approaching it all seemed right.”

Their very personal film in 2015, Living with Lincoln chronicles their six-generation struggle to preserve Abraham Lincoln’s image for more than a century. As a love letter to Peter’s grandmother Dorothy Meserve Kunhardt, it explores the emotional and physical connection to the president starting with William Meserve and his Civil War diary. Dorothy, a quirky Lincoln scholar, is best known as the author of the beloved interactive children’s book, Pat the Bunny. It was a glorious burden for the family. “I never planned to dedicate so much of my life to Lincoln, it just happened. I felt I owed it to my father, just as he owed it to his mother, just as she felt she owed it to her father,” says Peter.

Teddy and George enjoy working with their father. “We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Our communication is so strong that it has been the key to our success,” says George. One of the downsides though is that they talk about their work all the time, which is fun for them, but not so much for their wives.

“We get a lot more from people because we are a family business,” says George. “When we interviewed Joe Biden for John McCain: For Whom the Bell Tolls, we got a lot more access from him. He loved that Teddy and I were brothers. He took my cellphone and called my dad, and told him how much he enjoyed working with us.”

Trust is Key

“The biggest challenge we face is gaining trust,” says Peter. “Once you gain the trust of your subject you begin getting better access, content and stories.” When they filmed Becoming Warren Buffett, Buffett gave them strict restrictions in the beginning, only one interview, but they ended up filming him for fifteen hours. “Trust comes in a few ways: for one, they have to feel that we’re not out to give you a gotcha question. We’ve never been in that business, but we’re not in the business of a soft fluffy story either.”

Storytellers at the Core

They take a deep dive into the lives of their subjects. “We’re not historians, business people or news correspondents,” says Teddy. “We’re storytellers and in order to tell the story we need to get all the pieces of the puzzle.” They often look for people who have a relationship or don’t have a relationship with their parents and explore that in the film. “That’s a unique perspective to take because we’re very interested in lineage: Fathers/sons, fathers/daughters, mothers/sons, mothers/daughters,” says George. “That’s our wheelhouse. It is fun for us to do that within a film and something we look for when we do a project.”

“When you go back to someone’s childhood you learn about strengths and weaknesses and how they came to be in a way that would be hard to imagine by just focusing on the adult period of someone’s life and their success,” says Peter. “It’s fascinating to go back and see what influenced a child, what hurt a child, what helped a child. And how they were shaped by that.”

On the Horizon

Teddy and George have brought some fresh ideas to the film company. In addition to cable, there is now the film festival route. Jim: The James Foley Story premiered at Sundance and won the Audience Award, King in the Wilderness had its world premiere at Sundance and True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight For Equality will open the AFI DOCS film festival in June. George says that one of the best things that they are doing now is the establishment of the Kunhardt Film Foundation with its mission to put their high-quality educational programs, raw interviews and teaching tools into the hands of the public and schools. “This is our future where we are heading towards. We are doing more not-for-profit,” says Peter.

Their next film, True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight For Equality will have a screening at the Jacob Burns Film Center on June 25th, and debuts on HBO the following day.

Always reflecting as well as looking forward, they are proud of their high-quality work and very thoughtful filmmaking. “We are fortunate in that we can continue to infuse values into the work we do, and pick people to tell their stories that we think have lessons,” says Peter. George sums it up well: “We’re curating an interesting perspective of people and ideas that people need to be learn about. That is what I hope people enjoy about Kunhardt Films.”

Hillary Clinton’s Call for Donations to Help Families at the Border

June 19, 2018 by Inside Press

Calls Border Abuse “Horrific” and States Sessions’ Biblical Reference “Contrary to Everything I was Every Taught”

Via Onward Together, Secretary Hillary Clinton sent the following urgent message this morning:

“What’s happening to families at the border right now is horrific: Nursing infants ripped away from their mothers. Parents told their toddlers are being taken to bathe or play, only to realize hours later that they aren’t coming back. Children incarcerated in warehouses and, according to more than one account, kept in cages. This is a moral and humanitarian crisis. Everyone of us who has ever held a child in their arms, and every human being with a sense of compassion and decency should be outraged.

Even as I warned this could happen on the campaign trail–that Trump’s immigration policies would result in families being separated, parents being sent away from their children, people rounded up on trains and buses–I hoped it would never come to be. But now, as we watch with broken hearts, that’s exactly what’s happening.

We can be heartbroken, but we shouldn’t be hopeless. There’s something you can do to help.

Today, I’m asking you to take a stand on behalf of immigrant families by making a direct donation to the groups working to protect kids separated from their families by ICE.

The test of any nation is how we treat the most vulnerable among us. First Lady Laura Bush made that case eloquently in the Washington Post this weekend, writing: “This zero-tolerance policy is cruel. It is immoral. And it breaks my heart.” She’s absolutely right. We should be a better country than one that tears families apart, turns a blind eye to women fleeing domestic violence, and treats frightened children as a means to a political end.

Meanwhile, Jeff Sessions is trying to use the Bible to justify this cruelty. Let me say this: I went to a lot of years of Sunday school and even taught it from time to time, and what is being done using the name of religion is contrary to everything I was ever taught.

I still believe in the vision we share for our country, and I won’t let scared children become victims of partisan politics. Alongside the organizations that Onward Together partners with, we can and will elect politicians and enact legislation to protect the most vulnerable among us — but first, we have to address the urgent needs of families at the center of this crisis.

Make a contribution today, and your donation will go directly to the groups doing this work right now:

https://secure.actblue.com/donate/families-border?refcode=email&utm_medium=email&utm_source=onward&utm_content=3+-+Donate+now&utm_campaign=20180618_hrc_full&source=20180618_hrc_full

A Look Back at a Conversation Between Cecile Richards and Hillary Clinton

May 29, 2018 by Inside Press

May 22, 2018, Chappaqua, NY–Cecile Richards and Hillary Rodham Clinton walked onto the stage at the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center to a standing ovation. Over the course of 75 minutes, a vocal, enthusiastic audience frequently broke into applause throughout the packed house.

When Clinton welcomed Richards to Chappaqua, the activist responded with a welcome compliment: “I love it here, now I know why you live here!”

The conversation included Richards’ book Make Trouble: Standing Up, Speaking Out, and Finding the Courage to Lead and a range of other topics; politics, especially women’s activism, fair wages, immigration, Richards’ work with Planned Parenthood and more personal subjects such as her mother, Ann Richards, her husband, Kirk Adams and their three children. Richards also shared tips for the best pie crust and what to eat for breakfast on the road.

Hosted by the Chappaqua Library, this event was made possible through the collaboration of many organizations: New Castle Community Media Center, the Town of New Castle, the New Castle Police Department, Scattered Books, Chappaqua Performing Arts Center, and of course Hillary Rodham Clinton, Cecile Richards and the team from Touchstone Books.

Release and Photo courtesy of The Chappaqua Library

Chappaqua, What Changes in 15 Years!

March 8, 2018 by Amy Kelley

It has been 15 years since Inside Chappaqua launched … so much has happened and so much has changed, even as Chappaqua remains in many ways the same: great schools, a reasonable commute and a community that’s strong and caring. It isn’t easy to compile a list of fifteen items for fifteen years and a lot of great events and strides forward go unmentioned. But here’s a sampling of some of what’s made news in Chappaqua over the last decade and a half.

1. Seven Bridges Middle School opens, 2003. It seems like a long time ago now, and many town residents didn’t even live here yet when it happened – but what a big deal it was when Seven Bridges opened! Built at a cost of $32.5 million, Seven Bridges has since housed half of the district’s fifth-through-eighth graders and all of the children who attended those first years are now post-college age. Prior to the opening of Seven Bridges, fifth graders attended the elementary schools.

2. Chappaqua schools embrace full-day kindergarten, 2003. After years of discussion, Chappaqua’s kindergarteners started attending school for a full day, just like the bigger kids. Some parents rejoiced, others lamented that the school day was too long for little ones.

3. Chappaqua resident Hillary Clinton is re-elected to the Senate, 2006. Senator, Secretary of State, neighbor and valued community member; and so many in Chappaqua fervently wish her upward trajectory hadn’t stopped there. But who knows what the future holds? More from both Clintons, no doubt, and many in town were gratified when the pair solidified their roots by purchasing the property next door in 2016. Photo by Marianne Campolongo

4. Glass wall added to front of library, entrance re-configured, 2006-7. A bond vote to fund this project went down in the 90s so the library took the long view and started saving, library director Pamela Thornton said. Those who enjoy the bright and airy periodicals section in particular look back with gratitude.

5. Our Family of Readers statue comes to Chappaqua Library, 2010. It’s a terrific addition to a public space and perfect at sending a favored message of libraries: reading is for everyone. Created by sculptor Penelope Jencks, the sculpture was installed at Reader’s Digest headquarters in 1993 and presented to the library when the company left Chappaqua for Manhattan, Thornton said.

6. Chappaqua Farmer’s Market opens outside, 2011. Located at the train station, the Chappaqua Farmer’s Market keeps growing, while offering free and easy parking. “Every year we’re amazed we can fit more vendors…and more customers keep coming,” Pacale Le Draoulec, the market’s director, said. Le Draoulec and the market’s board keep considering the best way to grow. “We curate the market very closely,” she said. “ We want to be a farmer’s market first and foremost.” That means more fruits and vegetables than prepared foods. During the colder months, the market has first-Saturday pop-ups at the First Congregational Church. When the market reopens outside again in May with a return to the train station, Le Draoulec aims to “bring in more organic.” And of course, the weekly entertainment and the community-like atmosphere make this the place to be on Saturday mornings.

7. Chappaqua Community Garden opens, 2012. A space to grow at 233 N. Greeley Ave., this garden has “about 20 plots in the middle of town,” according to the website of Intergenerate, the organization that manages it. This year, expect to see black-eyed Susans, cosmos and more blooming in the pollinator garden outside the gate, Suzi Novak, the garden’s coordinator and Intergenerate board member, said. While there’s a short waiting list for spots in the Chappaqua garden, at press time there was plenty of room at the new community garden slated to open this spring on the site of the old Millwood Swim Club on Route 100, Novak said

8. Strawberry Festival reaches 75th year, 2012. And it made it to the 80th too–with no end in sight, this beloved event is low-key and lovely. Strawberry shortcake is never outdated.

9. New Castle Town board releases RFP (request for proposals) for downtown revitalization project, 2013. The downtown is being totally redone now and there’ll be a plaque to commemorate the project right outside–where else? Horace Greeley House. The construction project, called Streetscape, will improve roads, sidewalks, public spaces and infrastructure as well as beautify with new street lamps and plants, as reported by The Inside Press last August. Downtown shoppers will be glad when the project’s completed which is scheduled for October of this year.
10. Take It Or Leave It Shed re-opens behind the Shell station, 2014. Town historian Gray Williams said the move was a great one, causing a lot more use.

11. Habitat for Humanity project kicks off with a meeting at the library, 2015. Soon a former Quaker meeting house will boast two three-bedroom condos. Local architect Bill Spade, as reported previously by The Inside Press, said the style will “match the original structure.” One senses the Quakers would have heartily approved.

12. Chappaqua passes 42.5 million dollar bond vote for schools improvements, 2016. It was a big bond that passed handily and the improvements will be many, including various improvements to aging infrastructure, global learning centers at the high school and all elementary schools, STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics) centers at the middle and high schools and more.

13. Chappaqua Crossing breaks ground, 2016. Hardly anyone in Chappaqua is unaware of the decades-long battle? struggle? negotiations? that preceded the current work transforming the old Reader’s Digest buildings into a mix of retail, residential and office spaces. Layoffs at Reader’s Digest impacted the community and when the offices moved to Manhattan, a beloved institution was missed by many.

14. New turf field and renovated track opens at Horace Greeley High School with a community celebration including obstacle courses, face painting, and a varsity football game on Sept. 8, 2017. Schools superintendent Christine Ackerman told the crowd at the celebration, “We are so fortunate to live in a community that supports our students in so many ways.” These were some of the projects funded by the bond approved in 2016.

15. Opening Night at Chappaqua Performing Arts Center, Sept. 28, 2017. The former Wallace Auditorium on the Reader’s Digest property opens as a community-owned theater space with 425 seats. This spring, Chappaqua residents and other lovers of culture and the arts can see Ricky Lee Jones, the Chappaqua Orchestra and more.