Story Complete

Jessica and I FINALLY completed the NFL story. It's funny. I think I'm getting alzheimer's at an early age. Reisner STRESSED last class that he would be out of town on Thursday and that he needed our story on Tuesday. I told him that I was going to the center that day. SO, I rented a camera from school and went on my merry little way. Got some quotes, took some pictures and then I said "okay, I'm done, I'm going to go to my boyfriend's house to take a nap because he lives in the area lol. I then woke up and went home and got online. I checked my email and Reisner wrote "hey what's up with the story? OMG, I almost pissed my pants lol. I totally forgot he said to have it done. At this time it was like 10p.m. I then discovered I had no USB to upload the pictures. I had to raid my closet. I found a chord that fit and put it in the computer. Now, I am not the most technical-savvy person in the world, but my brother is, and he had to take the FCAT the next day and I didn't want to wake him. To make a long story short, I said up til 2a.m. I think the story came out really good. I can't imagine what would have happened if I didn't get online that night! I think Reisner would have failed me. My next story is about death in Liberty City. I'll be covering Portier's funeral home on 54th and 17th. I'm excited to do that story because it has been something that has been on my mind for years, I just never got the opportunity to talk about it. It would be awesome if I can go there this saturday, we'll not awesome lol, but if I go there and they have a funeral for a twenty-something year old who was killed due to gun violence. That would be such a lucky coincidence. I need a camera desperately and a tape recorder, but I am so poor. I really hope Liberty City LINK gets funding because we college students are super poor. LLC needs digital cameras, tape recorders, maybe two small video cameras and most importantly GAS REIMBURSEMENT! All these things would make me one happy camper.

Unfixable

Today we had a guest speaker, but before I get into that I called NFL YET today and they have some of the most unprofessional staff members I have ever come across. I asked the receptionist to transfer me to Dan in the computer lab and she transferred my call to a woman named "Hope" I'm like "okkay". Then I called back again and I'm like can I talk to Bobby Johnson please, she seemed to not know who I was talking about for the first 20 seconds, plus she had a attitude. Why the hell do they even hire these people? One thing I found strange at the center too was that they complain that they are short staffed and can't hire people or afford certain things, but they get funds from like 4 different organizations INCLUDING the NFL, yet the dance teacher charges her students $600/week and the students pay her salary...to be continued

2/25/2010

I don't know if that is legal, but I am curious to find out how that works. How does Mr. Johnson earn his salary if the program is free? Something is not right with that. So, we had a guest speaker, Vanessa Buyers of blogging black Miami. She told us that her daughter was murdered while attending college and instead of resorting to drinking or fighting people she decided to start blogging. I can tell that although she seeks healing, she is still very hurt and her child being killed is still very fresh and raw in her mind. When you lose a child I don't think anyone gets healed we just push it all the way to the back of our minds. It turned out that Buyers knows Michelle Spence-Jones and it seemed like she knew all the details about her latest scandal, but she wanted to be tight-lipped about it because Jones is a personal friend of hers. In a nutshell, I believe that the $3 million dollar project Buyers told us Jones wanted to make happen that would revitalize Liberty City through a African culture project is what really landed Jones in the hot seat. I think that although Jones is greedy ultimately, she still wants to help the impoverished community and there are plenty of people who don't want to see that happen. It is such a shame. Liberty City needs help. If they don't get the funds they desperately need it is going to continue to be a "bad" neighborhood. For example, I went to Booker T. Washington High. Terrible school. It started as a middle school and eventually became a high school. Before it became a high school. That school was consumed by violence, gangs, you name it. Kids used to come to school just to rob people. Take their chains, even their shoes and don't even get me started on the grades. So, fast forward to 1999 things started to change. Bill Gates donated computers, the buildings got expanded we got new staff members even lockers and much later, it became mandatory to wear uniforms. And guess what? The students changed. The grades went up, there weren't as many fights and I actually believe that it was the funds that helped. When you treat people like trash, prisoners, they will act like it, but then again there are always those people who can't be changed. That's what L.C needs though. There are too many people in the community who are computer illiterate and so many who don't have a high school diploma. That ignorance is what kills the community and the lack of resources. Maybe the community needs to over free ged classes in their own backyards. I don't I'm just throwing ideas out there, but at the same time what do you do about those who don't want help. The people who only want to depend on the system and continue to have baby after baby. When I was living in Overtown which wasn't too long ago, there were people who woke up every morning to drink beer, smoke crack/weed and crank up the music. They had no ambition. Their only ambition was to hop on their bikes to go around the corner for another fix. The point is that some people don't want to see a better future. The problem with L.C is that the range of people is too wide! There are a few youngsters going to college, some shooting and selling weed, coke and beans, then there are the younger working class people and the retired citizens. On the contrary, I've talked to some drug dealers who are very intelligent, some even have degrees. Not a B.A or anything like that, but it shows their capabilities. Hey, maybe they'll pick up the South Florida Times and read our section.

NFL YET has YET to come through

I went to the NFL Yet Center yesterday on 70th street and 22nd ave with Jessica and we spoke to "Mr. Dan", I don't remember his last name right now, he's the head of the computer literacy program at the center. We looked at some of thier programs in the computer. They teach grades k-2 and 7-12. I spoke to Benjamin Charles who is the site coordinator he AND "Mr. Dan" told us that today the NFL sponsors and some players were coming to the center today. It would be the last of a string of superbowl events at the center this week. So, me and Jessica were like "yes, we have a great event to cover"!! So, I go there today and come to find out the event wasnt being held there, it was at edison instead! Jay Z was there, so was Pharell and we missed the entire thing!!! I'm like how come these people don't know what's going on??!?!? Jessica had been trying to contact the director of the program, Mr. Johnson, and he hasn't been around and doesn't answer the phone or emails either. Today he was there, but there were some NFL exec's there and I walked into one of their very important meetings. Luckily I wasn't completely humiliated because they thought I was a part of it for some odd reason lmao! I dressed nice, but not in a suit or anything so that was kind of wierd...and funny. Anyway, we missed a huge event :(
After that, I went to Charles Hadley Park again and I spoke to some of the people about the tournament. There were about 6 senior citizens there one was a (mother- daughter). I found out that they will have a tournament tomorrow at 3p.m. It's a pretty big deal, so I know that this story isn't in the budget yet, but it is something that is interesting to me and I think I can cover it well. I took some pix while I was there

Print News Reporting

My name is Latoya Burgess, I'm 24 years old and I am from Overtown. I come from a place where people getting shot happens on any regular day and selling crack on the corner is an occupation. I've been studying journalism at FIU for about 2 years now and I have yet to see more than 3 black students in my classes. I am a rarity. I want to be a journalist because I want to make a difference. I am an example of how everyone in overtown does not have the same agenda. We are a capable race of people. When I took professor Reisner's Multi-Ethnic Reporting class last Fall I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I was pushed into a whole new world and I am glad I was. I knew I always wanted to be a reporter, but this notion is something that never occured to me before: "You don't have to 'be one' to cover 'one" [Reisner, Multi-Ethnic, 2009]. A good reporter can do this. As a journalist, we shouldn't be afraid of stepping outside of our comfort zones and covering unfamiliar communities. Now, I'm taking Print New Reporting and I love this class because it allows students to do just that: report. I am able to get hands-on experience in the real world without the sting of being chewed out by a super grouchy editor or being fired from the only job that pays my bills. Sure, Reisner is tough on us sometimes, but it only makes us better students and better reporters. Right now we are covering Liberty City and although I am not from that city I am from a very similar neighborhood. I'm excited to be able to dissect the inner-workings of this urban area and view the city through the eyes of those people who live there and want to see a change in the way their community is being portrayed through the press. I am thrilled with the way things are going in the class as well. Everyone in the class always has fresh idea's to bring to the table and we all have a thirst to do good reporting. Right now, I am the only African-American in my class and it's good to see that the students here are as passionate as I am to see this project unfold.