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Nita Lowey

Congresswoman Nita Lowey to Be Honored at HHREC Virtual Annual Benefit: October 29

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Guest Speaker Derek Black, Godson of David Duke, to Discuss his Journey Away from a White Nationalist Movement

Holocaust & Human Rights Education Center Virtual Annual Benefit:  Moving Generations Forward-

Honoring Human Rights Leaders Past, Present, and Future

Congresswoman Nita Lowey Inside Press Photo

Thursday, October 29, 7 p.m., from the comfort and safety of your home

Honoring U.S. Congresswoman Nita Lowey and Holocaust & Human Rights Education Center Speakers Bureau Survivors and Liberators

Our guest speaker will be Derek Black.  Derek Black is the son of Don Black, the founder of the hate site Stormfront and the godson of David Duke, a former grand wizard of the KKK.  While attending a small liberal arts college in Florida, students discovered a white nationalist living in their midst. They showed him practicing extreme acceptance.  Coming from people he respected, their ideas had real merit to him.  Derek is uniquely smart.  That made him discover the flaws in white nationalism ideology.  He walked away from the white nationalist movement.  Join us and listen to his story.

Sponsorship opportunities are available.  For more information, please contact Millie Jasper, 914-696-0738 or mjasper@hhrecny.org

https://hhrecny.z2systems.com/np/clients/hhrecny/event.jsp?event=829

Conversation with Chappaqua Native and National Security Expert Evelyn Farkas And Now Congressional Candidate for the 17th District

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PHOTO By Grace Bennett

An interview with the very accomplished Evelyn Farkas might have started ‘anywhere’ but we started with her raison d’etre for being ‘back in Chappaqua,’ her childhood home, and her ‘connection’ to the 17th District: “I grew up here, and I never really left… I don’t have my own nuclear family, so this is where I come back to as often as possible, for holidays and more…

“I left my town to serve my country,” she added pointedly. “I came back to serve my country,” said Farkas, whose campaign announced over $460,000 raised by the first filing deadline, just six weeks post launching.

The 52-year-old Farkas, MSNBC National Security contributor and a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for President Obama, speaks proudly of her parents who raised her here–94- and 81-year old Hungarian immigrants who fled Hungary after the Communist Revolution failed. “They came to America for freedom and economic opportunity,” after moving from Manhattan’s ‘Little Hungary’ to Chappaqua when Evelyn was one month old; she and her three siblings graduated from Horace Greeley High School.

“When his ship docked in Brooklyn, my dad was 31, and he had to learn English. He knew a little from music and films, but that was all. He took odd jobs and eventually got his Master’s in Library Sciences from Columbia University. He had a Ph.D. and a law degree, so he was on track to be a judge in Hungary. My mother was 13 years younger, so when she came to the U.S. she did a year of high school and college in Oklahoma where she studied pharmacy. They moved to Westchester because he got a job as director of the Briarcliff Manor Public Library. They chose Chappaqua for the schools. I’m so grateful to this district and my schooling. When I got to college, I realized just how well prepared I was.”

I asked her what stood out the most for her in Chappaqua schools: “I learned to write really well–it was a fantastic education, starting at Grafflin elementary school. I can still sing the school song!” We shared a laugh as Farkas recited its lyrics. Greeley, she elaborated, gave her “a great start” with advanced placement in Social Studies, for example. She also recalled a guidance counselor who had a huge impact on her life; she said he helped her navigate college admissions–eventually landing at Franklin & Marshall College with a double major in government and German; she related that her mom worked at three hospitals to supplement her dad’s modest income, so that they could afford her years at F&M, from where, upon graduation, she landed a first job at the Council on Foreign Relations. She described a “massive debt” not paid off until many years later with federal assistance. Today she is on F&M’s board.

Breaking Barriers

“I do pride myself on working my way up–being self-made,” said Farkas, who after two years overseas went on to graduate school outside Boston to get a Masters and PhD at Tufts Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. While she was there, she served as a fellow for the House foreign affairs committee, and worked inside Bosnia for six months. As a Human Rights Officer, “it was the most absorbing, meaningful job I’ve had to date.” What followed: The Marine Corps hired Farkas as one of its first two women assistant professors and eventually promoted her to associate after she finished her doctorate. It was on to the Senate Armed services staff for Senator Carl Levin (“a phenomenal member”) who endorsed Farkas to represent NY-17 in Congress in the late fall.

For nearly a decade, Farkas worked on “a whole swath of issues… combating terrorism but also narcotics, Asia Pacific policy, export control, and homeland defense after 9/11.” This led to a key appointment on a post 9/11 commission “getting to the bottom of the nexus between terrorism and weapons of mass destruction.” She also worked at the American Security Project founded by Senator John Kerry with whom she worked closely with on environmental issues before returning to the Department of Defense and reporting to “the head of the U.S.-European Command.” Farkas then became the Sherpa to Secretary Leon Panetta for the 2012 NATO summit which led to her most pivotal role when appointed to become Obama’s Assistant Director of Defense for Russia, Ukraine and Euroasia.

“Of course, famously, one of my countries invaded the other… I was alarmed to hear that the Trump campaign had this weird relationship to the Kremlin. I knew exactly what that meant because I knew how the Kremlin operated. And that probably represented something more serious. I went on national TV and raised the alarm. I said we need to get involved and Congress needs to get involved.”

Farkas barreled ahead, speaking and writing op-eds–while weathering time consuming and costly attacks by the far right, she related. “Ultimately the Republicans still in control of Congress made me testify. Of course, there was nothing to it, nobody was leaking to me. I just have a brain and I could put the dots together.”

The Pros of ‘Inside Washington’ Tenure

That brain and resolve eventually landed Farkas as a contributor at MSNBC. Ensconced in her role there, Farkas stated that she did not think she would be a politician. But then in the fall, after Nita Lowey announced her retirement, friends who had worked for Nita and strangers in the district convinced Evelyn to run.

“People said to me they wanted someone who understands national security issues, who’s a fighter, who will protect both our democracy and our economic opportunities; these are issues near and dear to me…”

“So is looking at gun safety and fighting hard so that our children don’t need to be afraid to go to school or working to make sure health care is accessible to more people at more affordable rates, Farkas added.

“I will fight, it’s in my DNA.” Farkas emphasized her national stature and that she knows how to get things done at the federal level. “For seven years, I drafted and passed legislation. I know the ranking members, the senior staffers… I already have a voice that people listen to. They follow me on Twitter, they watch me on MSNBC, and care what I have to say.”

Climate Change as a #1 Priority

She describes the ‘backdrop to everything’ regarding her priorities boils down to “protecting our freedom and our economic way of life,” and in that, her Number 1 priority, she makes clear, is the climate crisis.

“With the planet on fire literally and melting, we can’t ignore the climate crisis. While that’s my top priority, there are other issues. And we have to tackle them all.”

“All of us are affected by what’s happening: Along the Hudson, Long Island Sound, Rye Brook: all affect the district and those who live here–connected to that are issues pertaining to the airport for example. We do have to manage our air quality and noise.”

Gun safety is a very close second priority, calling the current state of affairs “an appalling blemish on our society.”

“It’s also preventable… Do background checks. It’s so basic. Many of these shooters would not otherwise have had access to weapons. Mental illness would have disqualified some too. Farkas also advocates no fly/no buy legislation, noting her background in counter terrorism. “Appallingly, people who are banned from flying because of suspicion they might be involved with terrorism are not on a banned list for buying firearms!”

Another must do, she emphasized, is a ban on automatic and semi-automatic weapons. “I worked for the military and saw weapons in Afghanistan and Iraq and been out to battle zones. Those weapons belong in the hands of our military, and after that, our law enforcement. I don’t want those types of weapons on the streets of America.”

Protecting women’s rights, Farkas stated, is also a high priority. “It’s bad enough that at the state level there was an attack on Roe v. Wade, and not only that but access to reproductive health care. We need to work harder at getting equal pay for women and even harder for women of color across the board. We need to rectify that.”

Speaking of women, Farkas said she has received words of encouragement from Hillary Clinton for whom she helped fundraise in 2008, and again in 2016, “joining a group of other Chappaqua women at that time. “I spoke with her recently about this race… she had a number of pieces of concrete advice; her last was my favorite, and that was: ‘Have fun.’ She also said, ‘call me anytime’ when I offered to keep in touch!”

Addressing Today’s Antisemitism

As I was working on shaping this story, antisemitism had passed a boiling point–with brutal and lethal attacks on Hasidic and ‘visibly” Jewish people, in particular in Crown Heights, Williamsburg, Jersey City and Monsey with memories of the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting still searing through Jewish and public consciousness. How are we going to heal this country, I asked Farkas. How do we take this deep division developed over these last three years and bring this country back together? How would you address antisemitism, I asked.

Farkas said that knowledge of the Holocaust was “ingrained in me,” despite that her parents weren’t Jewish, she said her grandparents had friends growing up who were Jewish who were terribly affected… It was a horrible time period in Hungary’s history. Coming out of that, my parents wanted us to understand how horrible humans could be to each other and have an awareness so we could do everything to prevent it.”

Farkas explained that her family history shaped her world view and she geared her education choices toward preventing atrocities. The genocide in Bosnia, she related, was one of her doctoral topics. “I’ve been wanted to stop hate from the beginning of my life.

Taking on Trump

“But now I’m also disgusted by what Trump has done,” she continued. “He says he’s proud of his daughter and Jewish son in law, but he is aiding and abetting anti-Semitism, aiding and abetting ‘otherism’ and hatred of African Americans, the LGBTQ and Muslim communities.”

Farkas said she spoke at a Jewish Federation of Peace lecture series in Pennsylvania. She recalled that the series was named after a prominent survivor, Leo Camp, who had survived Auschwitz. “We have to remember so that it doesn’t happen again,” Farkas said. Referring to a recent article about another survivor, she added: “This man, who didn’t even want to speak to his immediate family about his experience, is now so alarmed by what is happening that he is speaking out publicly as much as possible. I know many of the survivors who are very old doing just that.”

In our discussion about antisemitism, Farkas noted that she is “absolutely opposed to the BDS Movement.

“I think it’s bad for Israel. It is bad for U.S./Israeli relations. At best, it’s misguided. When it comes to Israel, yes, we need a two-state solution. Israel has the right to remain a Jewish state and I believe the Palestinians should have their own state as well. We need to remain shoulder to shoulder with Israel on security. I’ve worked on that in the Pentagon…” She said that “giving Israel the “qualitative military edge in defense means giving Israel the ability to deter all the other bad actors in the area from taking military action against Israel.”

She stated that Trump has “done more to put Israel at risk, to diminish protections than any other President in my lifetime. Politically, it also concerns me that the Israeli government has enabled Trump and others to make support a partisan issue when it has always been a bipartisan issue. Some people–and Trump is at the forefront of this–are changing the bipartisan support. He says ridiculous things like only he supports Israel, only the Republicans support Israel… There’s Nita Lowey, there’s Senator Levin, and many others.”

Mandating Education to Fight Hate

Farkas said that we also can’t always assume negative intentions to those making criticisms of Israel any more than of any other country. “That said, we do have to educate. There are younger people coming into Congress who have probably never traveled to Israel. Our commitment to Israel isn’t just political and military–it is moral.“

“This is why if you have people not educated in the history–and even don’t know how we in America did nothing and turned Jews away during the Holocaust… we now have a moral responsibility to Israel and to the Jewish people. In Congress, I would rectify this lack in education. I also view it as a broader issue than Israel and antisemitism. I’m against all ‘isms.’”

Time was almost up. Early in the interview, Farkas had shared her motivation in breaking barriers: “I’m a Doer. Even though I can be a Thinker, I’m a Doer.” I asked her for a final thought. “Although I grew up here in Chappaqua, we did struggle. But we got by because of its excellent education system.

I feel I want to protect that for future generations–that political freedom, that economic opportunity. I will fight for this district. From day one, I will be able to deliver. Because I’ve already legislated at the Federal level.”

For more information, please visit evelynforny.com

10 Takeaways from a Conversation with our State Assemblyman David Buchwald on his Candidacy for Congress

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David and Lara Buchwald
Photo By Sarah Merians Boutique Photography, courtesy of David Buchwald

In keeping with our Top Ten theme, here are ten key takeaways gleaned from my interview with David Buchwald, shortly after our 41 year-old legislator (Assembly District 93) announced his candidacy in October for the 17th Congressional district held by Nita Lowey for the last 31 years. After he was among the first to enter the race*: the interview took place over a 45-minute session seated at his dining room table in White Plains.

1. He is very enthusiastic about his candidacy and enjoys multiple corners of support. “I’m feeling excited because a lot of people approached me and said I’d be the right person to succeed Nita Lowey! Moving forward, it will be a pleasure to be able to fight for Westchester and Rockland Counties. We need a government in Washington that’s much more effective than it has been the last few years. That’s an important task that I’m up for.”

Upon deciding, David made his first call to his wife Lara, an attorney/litigator on the board for the Legal Aid Society. “She was very supportive. I couldn’t be in this line of work without a good support network.”

Outside his family, there’s no shortage of support or perception that Buchwald has earned this candidacy. Prior to his stint in the State Assembly, Buchwald served in local government, as a member of the White Plains Common Council, where he represented the entire city population of 57,000. He has also worked in support of municipalities throughout the State as a member of the Local Governments Committee of the New York State Assembly.

Since announcing, grassroots activists have already begun rallying on his behalf, and numerous and enthusiastic endorsements have been forthcoming including those from White Plains Mayor Tom Roach, North Castle Town Mayor Michael Michael Schiliro, Mount Kisco Mayor Gina Picinich, Rye Town Supervisor Gary Zuckerman, and New Castle Town Supervisor-Elect Ivy Pool.

Said Schiliro: “Throughout his career, Assemblyman Buchwald has been a responsive and trusted ally, as we’ve worked together to save taxpayers money, improve our libraries, and serve the people of North Castle I know he will be ready to undo the damage done at the federal level. David will be a leader we can count on in Congress.”

Pool expressed her pride in endorsing Buchwald commenting to me that “David is a tireless advocate on local issues, while also championing our shared values. He is smart, creative, and industrious, and I know he will continue to work hard on behalf of his constituents as our Congressman. David is a worthy successor to Congresswoman Nita Lowey who has been a friend to New Castle, and an inspiration to so many.”

David Buchwald with Amelia and Anna
PHOTO BY Grace Bennett/InsidePress

2. His two adorable preschoolers, together with Lara, too, are the lights of his life; plus, they make him cognizant of enhancing quality of life for all of his constituents. At the time of the interview, Anna, 4, and Amelia, 2 were outside playing with the family nanny. Post our conversation, I fell hard for their infectious smiles and unsolicited hugs.

“I love seeing life through their eyes… Also, If you are trying to create a brighter future for them, it means a brighter future for everyone. There may be things Lara and I can do individually for them, but there are things–like climate change–that we need to do together for everyone…

“Hopefully every child who grows up here in the Hudson Valley has access to all the amazing things in this area. One of the big challenges for any representative in this area is maintaining affordability for families. He hopes to see their children “stick around and come back after college.

Robust employers are looking to relocate where young professionals live, he noted, adding that he would promote the county’s transit system to attract those employers. “I used to live two blocks from White Plains train station. There’s not many places outside New York City that you can live without a car!”

He called Lara his “Number 1 advisor. She makes sure I stay level-headed. I like to think I don’t get too full of myself; she’s someone I draw inspiration from–an accomplished professional in her own right, and a passionate advocate for legal representation.”

3. He plans to hit the ground running and keep his door open. As he nears a 10-year anniversary of public service, Buchwald encourages residents to look closely at his record. “No issue is too small. My door is always open–if a constituent wants to connect with me, we always try to make that happen quickly.”

He said that he believes his constituents have viewed him as “always present, always paying attention…. I think that’s crucial to establish for this congressional race. Traffic willing, part of my goal in the campaign is to be everywhere my schedule allows.”

4. He expressed a commitment to building on the work and skills he has already brought to the table. “We will continue to fight for the environment, for a woman’s right to choose, and will make sure we bring resources to help those who are struggling to make ends meet…. I will put forward my vantage point as a tax attorney by trade to try to significantly improve and do right by those undermined by a Republican Congress and Trump’s SALT reduction. He said adjustments need to be made in recognition that the cost of living here is higher.

5. He will continue to wage battle against the gun violence epidemic. “It’s one of my main issues and what I ran on. I will try to bring my record of success in New York State to bear at the Federal level. The first vote I cast as a State Assemblyman was for the New York SAFE Act* which I co-sponsored. I have no doubt it has saved lives in New York.

He said he backed it up by a series of measures including expanding background checks and preventing “ghost guns…”  “Common sense safety measures have been stymied despite that most Americans support them. We’re getting to the point where New York State can only control so much because so much is tied to out of state…”

6. He aims to make it harder for any top government official in New York, including Trump, to hide their tax returns. Buchwald noted that he gained particular notoriety for a successful push, he explained, to adopt a law allowing the sharing of the New York State tax returns of top government officials, a law which Donald Trump is now suing to block.

He elaborated: “The law says New York State has a copy of tax returns of every filer in the state and that Trump as a New York state resident files his income tax returns. We already share those returns with the IRS, with tax departments in dozens of other states, so we said: “Let’s have that same sort of cooperation with our federal counterparts in Congress. So we passed my bill, and it’s now law, and Trump is suing to overturn that law. A New York motion to dismiss the case is pending…. I’ve always believed that open transparent government can make for better decision making.”

7. He will fight to protect a woman’s right to choose. “No matter what happens at the Supreme Court level, women in our region can have confidence that their rights will be protected. But, at the Federal level: there is an ongoing battle over basic principles that we’ve assumed for decades won’t have government interference–that we won’t make access to healthcare dependent on financial wherewithal. It’s very disheartening to think that means equates with health care; it’s antithetical to the right of a woman to consult with a doctor and make up her own mind.”

8. He will speak out against racism, hate and anti-Semitism. “I think Trump has tried to govern by division and the great thing about the United States is that we are a country that at our best brings people together from so many different backgrounds, and that creates a society that is stronger than any one group of individuals can create on their own. We have a lot of work to do to bring the country together.” He said he’d like to see a government “that does not use the Justice Department to undermine freedoms, or the Department of Homeland Security to tear homes apart. We need to ensure we have leaders who lead by example.”

“My role as an elected official now, and hopefully in the future, is to bring people together. We have great towns and cities with shared experiences that can be built on. If you try to pit one part of a community against another, that turns very dangerous very quickly. We’re seeing that with racism, with anti-Semitism… So, that’s part of why I’ve spoken up at any opportunity to denounce hatred and say that a threat to any one individual or community is a threat to all.”

9. As has been Nita Lowey’s long established commitment, he too will support Israel. “I’m a strong supporter of Israel and a progressive. To me, those things go hand in hand. We have to support our friends around the world who stand for those values we support as Americans. That includes democracy and basic notions of tolerance. Israel is a country that welcomes refugees. It used to be that America was also known for that. My wife and I serve on a refugee committee at our synagogue to help sponsor a family where the father/husband served as an interpreter for our troops overseas. A legal immigrant is what a refugee is: admitted under the law. To see Trump cutting back on legal immigration strikes me as going against the core of what our country should be about.

“It’s important for the United States to push for peace and stability in the Middle East and support the ability of Israel and Palestinians and other Arab neighbors to work through long established issues. Those who would seek to have the United States abandon their best ally in the region undermine the best aspects of Progressivism which recognizes the innate worth of people being able to make self-determining decisions.”

10. His Judaism shapes his general outlook and encourages him to fight against corruption. “I am cognizant that my religion teaches me to be humble in light of the fact that there are things in this world we can’t control. And that’s certainly true of campaigns. But if you put your best foot forward and determine you’re in it for the right reasons, there are people who will back you up. I find that very gratifying. I couldn’t have gone to Albany and affected change there without having people who have my back. I had to fight people who wanted to maintain the status quo and was lucky to have constituents who sent me there precisely to shake things up, namely, to strip corrupt officials of their pensions.* They said it couldn’t be done, and now it’s the law of the land. You can only engage when you have a sense that there’s a purpose. I like to think my religion supports that. My grandfather was a rabbi. I like to think he’d be proud of that.”

*Editor’s Note: This article conveys highlights of a conversation with our hometown legislator. Buchwald is a single candidate in the race with a number of new candidates vying for the spot too since the time of this writing. For additional information about any of Buchwald’s legislation mentioned here, or about his new campaign, from his perspective too, please visit DavidBuchwaldforCongress.com.

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

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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.

 

Choosing a Necessary Focus

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Photo by Andrew Bordeaux

I was planning a personal reminisce about 15 years of publishing for this 15-year anniversary edition.* Instead, my mind has been squarely focused on the massacre that took 17 precious lives at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on Valentine’s Day. I’ll save going down memory lane for some other day.

In the week that followed, I visited a rally in White Plains quickly organized by Indivisible Westchester, Up2Us and Million Mom March, northern Westchester chapter. Erin Fuller, a 30-year-old survivor of the Oct. 1, 2017 Las Vegas massacre which killed 58 people, and injured nearly 500 more, spoke to hundreds gathered. Our story about the rally can be found online here.

More recently, I attended a roundtable of local teens (including ones from Greeley, Pleasantville, White Plains, among others) who joined several police officers to meet with Congresswoman Nita Lowey. To hear our kids grappling over what can be done was both heartening and heartbreaking.

 

Rep. Nita Lowey with a group of Westchester students and several law enforcement officers following a February roundtable.  https://www.theinsidepress.com/westchester-students-voice-their-ideas-to-tackle-the-challenge-of-gun-violence/

Heartening–in that we are giving our kids a platform to voice their concerns and ideas.

Heartbreaking–in that it was a poignant reminder that it is KIDS who are on the front-lines, and too often, the victims of these shootings.

I asked a reporter to contact a group of area Superintendents for statements about campus safety and to speak with some of our students too; our story will be here at theinsidepress.com too as I try to stay current and share info into social media. 

On March 14, high school students throughout the County will have an opportunity to express themselves–for 17 minutes to honor 17 lives. On March 24, many more will be advocating for overdue change too all around the county. Please visit marchforourlives.org for more info.

15 years ago, before Sandy Hook, before Las Vegas–before the reportedly 18 school shootings just this year–I was not, I must confess, preoccupied with these issues. I am now, however. So many are, including many who have not ‘stepped up’ before. A dear friend noted recently, “The winds are changing.” I believe that’s true, too.

The weather is turning soon. With more sun, comes more brightness and reason for optimism, too. Enjoy the edition! So much hard work went into it, and always appreciative of that.


P.S. A special congrats to our newly sworn-in town officials! At a historic and packed ceremony at the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center, President Bill Clinton presided, speaking of ‘A New Beginning,’ and the positive aspects of that.

*Fortunately, we have a terrific compilation of 15 major milestones in the community since 2003 on page 24 of this edition already, so do take a glance! The story is on our home page, and you can always download the entire magazine edition from there too.