The City & Kids

Be sure to listen to Episode 3 of the Worcester Is MAJOR Talkcast here.

Louima: It seems like just yesterday

(AP Photo/Suzanne Plunkett)

Today marks the 10-year anniversary of Abner Louima being assaulted by NYC Police officers in the 70th Precinct in Brooklyn, NY.

It was August 9, 1997, when Louima was arrested outside Club Rendez-Vous while trying to break up a fight between two women. Club Rendez-Vous still remains a popular spot in East Flatbush, Brooklyn and is the scene of numerous altercations that lead to Police being summoned.

What took place to Louima that night at the 70th Precinct was not only horrific, but it confirmed many people’s feelings that cops used their power, at times, for the wrong thing.


The officers that responded to the club- Justin Volpe, Charles Schwarz, Thomas Bruder, and Thomas Wiese- were to break-up the fight and restore order, but what really took place during the scuffle remains a mystery still.

Officer Justin Volpe, who claimed he was “sucker punched” by Louima arrested Louima and charged him with disorderly conduct, obstructing government administration and resisting arrest.

Eyewitness accounts stated that the arresting officers then proceeded to beat Louima with fists, night sticks and their hand-held police radios. To say that they messed Louima up would be an understatement comparable only to what took place on March 3, 1991, when officers in Los Angeles brutally beat Rodney King.

Being beaten in the streets of Brooklyn was not the end of the assault on Louima. The assault continued at the 70th Precinct in Brooklyn where Louima was strip-searched, kicked in the groin and sodomized in the bathroom with a toilet plunger by Justin Volpe.
It was reported that Volpe then walked through the precinct holding the bloody, excrement-stained plunger in his hand and indicating that he had “broke a man down.”

This brutal attack on a man that was “trying to do the right thing” while attempting to stop the women from fighting, confirms that the devil does exist. Volpe and the other Officers made a decision that evening that may have been precipitated by having to respond to calls of domestic violence, a murder scene, or a car accident, but it still doesn’t warrant another human being mistreating and, ultimately, disrespecting another human being.

What we learn from brutal attacks like the Louima case is that, as human beings, we forget how to be human. We forget that what we say and what we do have a large impact on ourselves and the people around us. Just as we struggle to put meaning for a husband or wife killing their partner or a parent mistreating their child, we have to help one another become connected to the community and the world, because there is a GREAT need for more personal interaction and communication.

We have come a long way from the days of slavery, but we have a long way to go to learn about differences and how those differences can be used to teach and educate; the key being the willingness to learn and say to one self, “I don’t know everything.”

So, on this day that marks the 10th anniversary of the Abner Louima assault, work to not harbor jealously and hatred to your brothers and sisters and realize that we all want the same things—happiness, love from family, and a place in the World.

August 29, 1997, in New York. The march was dubbed "Day of Outrage Against Police Brutality and Harassment."(AP Photo/Michael Schmelling)

Two-year-old Kiara Roberts holds a bathroom plunger and a sign as thousands of people marched to Brooklyn’s 70th Precinct in New York, August 1997, to protest police brutality against Haitian immigrant Abner Louima. (AP Photo/Damon Winter)

No Meeting!

Well, it looks as if Mayor Lukes put the kabash on the meeting (08/07/07), which was being pushed for by Frederick Rushton. Word is that Mayor Lukes in chilling on vacation in Cape Cod and said there won't be a meeting until August 28th- the same day Worcester Public Schools begin a new school year.

With City Manager, Michael O'Brien's proposed budget hanging in the wind, it's going to be interesting, because if cuts are made in education, and particularly if teachers positions are cut at the August 28th meeting, I can envision a hail storm of upset residents and teachers.

Vibe with me for a second. Say you're a teacher that has been vacationing with your family outside of the United States for the past month, but you've kept your eyes on the political scene at home. You've been a teacher for say, 10 years, and you take pride in teaching the future generation and even being a role model to these children. You report to school on August 20th to begin working on your classroom and getting the lesson plan in place for the school-year. All is good in the 'hood. That is until school starts. School starts on August 28th and the students, in their newly bought clothes, sneakers, flats, and bedazzled t-shirts and backpacks, enter school happy and optimistic to learn and catch-up with friends who they haven't seen in 2 months.

The school year is off to a good start. You, the teacher, set the tone for the school year and the expectations that each student will try their best, work hard, ask questions and use their manners at all times. Again, all is good in the 'hood. That is until you arrive at school on the morning of Wednesday, August 29, 2007, and you find out that 3 teacher positions have been eliminated at the City Council meeting the previous evening. One of the positions, is your position! What do you do? What do you feel? You feel as though you've been drop-kicked by Jackie Chan in Rush Hour 3.

You first reaction might be to question, "How can this be happening to me?" the ensuing questions may go something like this, "What am I going to do for work? How am I going to live? How am I going to support my family?" All the emotions and FEAR kick in and you feel as though you're going to faint, but you can't. You can't give up because that would be conceding defeat, and defeat is something that you were taught a very young age is not in the equation. You call on your FAITH and ask GOD to help you "get through this".

This is a fictional scenario, but we all can identify with it and know that it is possible for all of the above to take place.

I encourage Mayor Lukes, City Manager O'Brien and the entire City Council to not allow this fictional story to become a reality, because just as the retirees have spouted, "We'll remember in September", the City's leadership may find themselves on the outside looking in.

Worcester World Cup

Worcester World Cup Schedule
Saturday, August 11th Schedule

9:00 am Game 1: Iraq x Senegal
10:10 am Game 2: Brazil x USA
11:20 pm Game 3: Togo x Ecuador
12:30 pm Game 4: Liberia x Jamaica
1:40 pm Game 5: Kosova x Ghana
2:50 pm Game W1: Guatemala x El Salvador (women)
4:00 pm Game 6: Albania x Iran
5:10 pm Game W2: Mexico x USA (women)
6:20 pm Game 7: Vietnam x Guatemala

Sunday, August 12th

9:30 am - 2:00 pm Men’s Round 2 (winners from Round 1 & Best Loser)
2:10 pm - 4:20 pm Men’s Round 3 (winners from Round 2)
4:30 pm Women’s Final Game
5:40 pm Men’s Final Game
6:50 pm Awards Ceremony Men’s (1st & 2nd) & Women’s (1st & 2nd)

Tournament organizers believe the Worcester World Cup is far more than a soccer tournament; it is a chance to recognize and celebrate Worcester’s past and present immigrant communities. This 2-day tournament will bring together 18 teams representing 16 countries and immigrant communities. Women’s teams from Guatemala, El Salvador, Mexico and the USA will be joined by Men’s teams from Togo, Albania, Iran, Jamaica, Ghana, Iraq, Guatemala, Brazil, Kosova, Vietnam, Liberia, USA, Ecuador, & Senegal.

The tournament is held at Elm Park Community School field, a focal point of the nascent immigrant soccer leagues and pick-up games in Worcester. Many of the players in the tournament live nearby and regularly practice and scrimmage on this field. Neighborhood community groups have asked the City Manager to prioritize this field for much needed renovation. City Councilor Gary Rosen has made the field’s renovation a personal project he wants to see succeed. The Worcester World Cup is a community celebration with entertainment along with games for children, national flags representing the teams, ethnic food vendors, and more! EHANA, the neighborhood association around the Elm Park Community School will be coordinating children’s activities and awarding prizes. There is no entrance fee for spectators.

Cultural Exchange Through Soccer (CETS) was born out of an effort to build relationships in an internationally diverse neighborhood and to support Elm Park Community School’s growth. It is a unique program that has proven its ability to bring neighbors together for recreation and for the neighborhood’s common good. CETS was started in the summer of 2003 and has grown substantially. What was an 8- week program with a dozen kids and one coach now boasts over 65 participants, including 14 coaches playing year round by using the EPCS gymnasium and the EPCS school field.

Join Cultural Exchange Through Soccer (CETS), the Pleasant Street Neighborhood Network Center, and Worcester Common Ground for the Second Annual Worcester World Cup!