The Horace Mann School for Boys

I attended the Horace Mann School for Boys for my last two years of high school. Yes, it still was called a "School for Boys" as they had not yet had time to change all their collateral material prior to their admittance of girls. That all changed during the first year of co-education in 1975. 


In tomorrow's Sunday New York Times magazine, the cover story is entitled "Prep School Predators: The Horace Mann School's Secret History of Sexual Abuse". 


The story was posted online a few days ago. A lame note disclaiming any responsibility ( as these events happened in the past, prior to the present administration)  went out to all alumni and parents prior to its publication. The avalanche of stories, support, horror, sadness and other emotions that have been streaming online ever since is quite extraordinary. It has churned up so many memories, so many emotions for all of us, clearly. In fact, it points more toward the strength of the bonds most HMers have felt. A kinship. A shared community. A lifelong bond for most of us.


Sadly, not for those who were abused.

I have to say that I have always proudly "worn" my HM badge, most importantly, for its significance to me as being one of twenty girls to graduate in its first co-ed class. One of twenty girls to have been part of an "old boys'" network, with all that that meant. It has helped and even defined my life's work, often at the forefront of a lot of situations where women were very few. It helped me in innumerable ways to compete and thrive in a man's world. And a big part of this was gaining a certain "street smarts" when people came onto you or acted in ways that were uncomfortable. It's really not "new" news, is it? I think this stuff has really gone on forever.

Girls have long been subjected to the kinds of things admitted in these discussion threads.  I got those same back rubs by teachers.  During my junior or senior year, my mentor at WNEW during an internship off-campus locked me in his office and started groping me. I was shocked. I demanded he let me out…and the shame of that was so unbearable that I never went back to that TV newsroom again. No teacher at HM even questioned why I left that internship, which they knew was so important to me.

One of the best parts about HM was the access to being in a "man's world." Being taught by all these old world "eccentrics" was par for the course-- and the most energizing aspect. Sadly, some of those "eccentrics" crossed the boundary into criminal behavior. 

Stories will be coming out from those abused. And I hope that those who have kept this inside for way too long will have the benefit of being able to find peace somehow-- through discussion, through shared history, through being able to vent. Others have already begun to comment on the "sexual hotbed" environment they assume it was. It was NOT that.

For the victims, being able to vent it is really cathartic and important. For those suffering any kind of abuse today, it is so important to share in order to dispel the shame.  But to think that it doesn't go on today is unrealistic. To think this only happened "back in the day", is silly. Human nature has a dark side. It will continue. It's just important that people can share and not feel that they cannot talk about it. Shame is a killer.  

Love is a Game-Changer

Mia Love has a killer smile and a winning personality. Who, you ask? She's from Utah. A Republican, Mormon...and Black. Born in New York to Haitian immigrants, she just may be the first African-American GOP Congresswoman ever to be elected in the US. She's already been the first Black Mayor from that Grand Ole Party elected in Utah and, mark my words, she's going places nationally. Love is most certainly a game-changer.

But the game-changing aspect is not simply that she may be the first Black Republican woman elected to Congress; it's that the Republican party itself is actively transforming itself before our eyes. Mia Love is not an anomaly but part of the new face of the party. She is 37 years old, in an interracial marriage, mother of three, living in Utah. Imagine the possibility of a not so distant future in which Mitt Romney wins, becoming the first Mormon President. His VP, the very conservative Marco Rubio from Florida, a first-generation Cuban American, is as right-wing as we have in this country. But he's Hispanic and will sway voters on that fact, irregardless of his views. Congresswoman Mia Love will be leading the charge for family values, fiscal responsibility and personal responsibility.

I will relish the photo the GOP will flaunt of the Romney family standing tall with the Rubios-- Marco and Jeannette, his blond, former Dolphin cheerleader wife and their four kids next to the interracial Loves. That's America today and it's not the Dems that will be leading.

The GOP bombed with Sarah Palin in the last election. But with LOVE on their side, success may be at hand...Dems need to pick up the pace if they think otherwise.

The "New" Urban Nomad: the Mobile Homeless, Pt.1

On Venice Blvd 2012

There is a category of Urban Nomad which is serious and growing: the Mobile Homeless. No, this isn't a joke and it doesn't mean those who have no cell coverage. The Mobile Homeless are a group of nomads who have lost their homes and find shelter in RVs, campers and cars. Well, the lucky ones are in RVs and campers, parked where they can find space on the streets. The less-than-lucky are in their cars; the unlucky, on the streets. The victims of the housing crisis are mounting in numbers unprecedented in US history. Most of us, living in our houses, are unaware just how large this community has grown.

The Mobile Homeless need to move everyday. They are in an all-consuming and constant search for survival, dependent on the streets to provide electricity, water and a place to park. Society is not kind to them, as a general rule. They play a "cat and mouse" game with the police. Neighbors complain about RVs and unruly vagrants on their blocks. Police are called in to move and/or ticket them. In Venice Beach, CA a federal lawsuit against the city and LAPD claimed that cops were not only rousting RV dwellers based on the kind of vehicle they were in but also that dilapidated motor homes were targeted for traffic stops and tickets. 

This video was made in 2008, four years ago. At that time, they were claiming that "since the beginning of the mortgage crisis, one and a half million Americans have lost their homes." According the the NY Times, all told, "roughly four million families lost their homes to foreclosure between the beginning of 2007 and early 2012." (April 2, 2012) Contrary to reports of economic revival, this situation has not gotten better. In California, it has worsened dramatically.
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Coming in Part 2: Mobile Parks?