Cronicas Amexicanas - Mexican Brooklyn

New York City, New York, is still a port for new arrivals in the United States of America.

And the fastest growing community in New York is the Mexican one, according to a study published in 2003 by the Teachers College, at Columbia University:

http://www.tc.edu/news.htm?articleID=4495

The very Mexican neighbourhood are East Harlem, north of Manhattan, and firstly Sunset Park, South of Brooklyn.

I headed to Sunset Park, as I mentioned earlier, partly because of the book by Paul Auster I loved to much.

Lovely Sunset Park

Two avenues away, this neighbourhood is very much becoming Chinese, but along Sunset Park and Sunset Terrace, New York is definitely Mexican.

Spanish-speaking Brooklyn

A changing hood

Facing the heartbeat of New York

The Park overlooks the dream's symbols: The East River and the Statue of Liberty

This is where Mexican join each other in a more peaceful part of New York, building up their solidarity if not social and financial success, as this community remains far from thrilling employment and high education.

Colours of the Mexican flag...

Lots of White Anglo-Saxon Protestants New Yorkers are still trying to ignore the growing Spanish-speaking community. They should probably catch up with this bit of reality in the neighbourhood...

La Rentrée

The bus was right on time on the busiest boulevard of the city and it was really quick to arrive in the new posh district I had to head to this morning for work. On top of practicalities, the weather was also gorgeous and my future colleagues late, allowing me to spend a couple of extra hours reading the news and indulging myself on Twitter...

C'est la Rentrée. Two weeks after most of my fellows, I am starting to work again, on a full time basis, with regular work hours, in the capital and my hometown, a situation I have not known since 2008, having been a foreign correspondent pretty much all the time on the road.

For this new start, all is going greatly, but in case the call of freedom rings too high, I have a few plans B on the back of my mind...

1. Run back to Mexico, hide and register for this Spanish School in Oaxaca, I met a lovely Mexican man in this city who almost offered to host me in his family...

2.  Move back to Nairobi as a foreign correspondent and live happily everafter near Somalia and Somaliland, building new East African projects. I am sure my great former housemate could even manage to take me back and the beauty of Kenya allied to the welcome of East Africans would make it all easy and nice...

3. Run back to Mexico and start writing from there for various news outlets I already know are interested, look for a flatshare in the DF and "improve" my Spanish by hanging out with some friends of friends I met during this fantastic first trip...

Please vote for your favourite escape and let me know if you'll be on this road!

In the meantime, it is all business as usual home, and my first day has still not turned me running...

Kenya's voters registration will begin on Oct. 11

Capital News

NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 18 – The registration of voters ahead of the March 2013 General Election is set to kick off on October 11, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) announced on Tuesday.

IEBC chairman Issack Hassan said a contract for the supply of 15,000 Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kits was to be signed by the end of day on Tuesday.

Read here:


http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2012/09/kenya-voter-registration-begins-october-11/ …

American chronicles: Iconic New York - In Pictures

From Brooklyn to Manhattan, First day in New York since 2008...

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Prospect Park and the pond

Around Prospect Park, Brooklyn, on a late summer Monday Morning, Labor day indeed

Around the corner of Prospect Park...

And Park Slope

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Caribbean Brooklyn: On Labour Day, Caribbeans are getting ready for the parade!

 

West Indian–American Day Carnival

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New York, New York

Leaving Brooklyn towards town, the view from the bridge...


Meanwhile, in Manhattan:

I was of course heading towards the Museum of Modern Art...

African and Cuban artists on display

                                                                   Wilfredo Lam

And more! Arshile Gorky

Midtown!

Rockefeller Center

And before heading back to Brooklyn, a little view on the Flat Iron...

This is a little New York collection.

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More to come: Sunset Park and Mexican Brooklyn.

Cronicas Amexicanas: From Brooklyn to Manhattan, in Pictures

As you may have seen, I was in Latin America for the first time this month, in Mexico. I just came back in Europe and for now I can only see one good reason for leaving: I am no longer slaughtering the beautiful Spanish language at every corner of Mexico. But that's the only one...

Luckily, my home town is a beauty and always welcoming, apart from the RER B at CDG Airport, but we are used to taht, are we not?

I labelled my travel Amexican trip, as a short for America + Mexico, inspired by a work by British journalist Ed Vulliamy, hence the name of these chronicles, which cover Brooklyn, Mexican New York and Mexico.

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On my way to Mexico, I stopped for three days in New York, staying in Brooklyn and searching for Mexicans living in the Big Apple.

It was also the occasion to see more of this incredible New York borough I never had time to explore deeply.

Up this page is the video I made on the first day from the subway taking me to the MoMA. It gives a feeling of the thrill I went through enjoying these precious New York moments full of meetings, arts and discoveries. I hope it communicates a bit of it... 

CLAUDE IVERNÉ - photographies soudanaises (1998/2012) - Maison des Metallos

Other African photographs exhitions: In Paris at La Maison des Metallos, 11 arrt.

CLAUDE IVERNÉ
photographies soudanaises (1998/2012)

 Singulier parcours que celui de Claude Iverné : après avoir débuté dans le milieu de la mode puis celui de la presse, il découvre le Soudan et change de cap vers une pratique autonome de la photographie, plus proche des sciences sociales. La connaissance intime que cet arabophone acquiert des territoires traversés et des peuples rencontrés, notamment au Darfour, contraste avec l’image qu’en donnent
la plupart des médias. L’artiste pose d’emblée la question de
la représentation par un mur couvert d’articles sur le Soudan, issus de la presse internationale et de publications scientifiques. Le visiteur accède à l’exposition par un sas symbolique : le champs médiatique se trouve, par un effet de miroir, relégué en coulisse. On pénètre alors dans un unique espace vaste, à l’instar des terres soudanaises : la scène réelle, lente, presque immobile et silencieuse du pays.
Les photographies de Claude Iverné – paysages, portraits et habitats – y dressent des typologies et s’enchaînent dans un ensemble au fil narratif potentiel. Libre au visiteur de reconstruire l’histoire selon sa propre réception des images. L’artiste questionne ainsi nos codes et standards de représentation, et l’usage contemporain du terme « documentaire ».

Maison des métallos
11 octobre > 7 novembre
du mardi au samedi 4h > 20h
le dimanche > 14h > 19h
entrée libre

http://www.maisondesmetallos.org/site/index.php/agenda/details/397 

PHOTOGRAPHIES SOUDANAISES
Une proposition de description d'un territoire

 Comment donner à voir un territoire aussi complexe que le « Bilad es Sudan » (« Pays des Noirs », nom d’origine du pays en arabe) désormais scindé en deux États historiquement opposés, sans se laisser happer par l’immédiateté de l’urgence et de son traitement médiatique ? Le photographe Claude Iverné, familier des sociétés, des enjeux politiques et économiques de ces contrées méconnues, tente d’y répondre par une exposition en trois volets.

Tout d’abord ses propres travaux depuis quatorze ans, puis les archives photographiques d’Elnour, bureau de documentation fondé avec seize photographes soudanais, qui offrent un point de vue cette fois de l’intérieur. Enfin, une exposition de rue élaborée au jour le jour par les visiteurs et riverains eux-mêmes sur les murs du quartier.


CLAUDE IVERNÉ
photographies soudanaises 1998/2012
Maison des métallos

PHOTOGRAPHIE SOUDANAISE
archives Elnour 1885/2012
Usine Spring Court

PHOTOGRAPHIE SOUDAINE
2012
Quartier de Belleville

AUTOUR DE L'EXPOSITION

CONCERT POUR LA PAIX AU MALI - 22 SEPTEMBRE 2012

CONCERT POUR LA PAIX AU MALI AVEC : Amadou & Mariam, Cheick Tidiane Seck, Bafing Kul, Mamani Keita, Askia Modibo…

Concert  pour la Paix au Mali : Les artistes se mobilisent pour la paix, l’unité nationale et l’intégrité territoriale

Le Samedi 22 Septembre 2012 Dans la cour de la Maison de la Jeunesse à Saint- Denis, à partir de 15H00 12 place de la résistance 93210 / Bus : 153, 253, 239 Arrêt Lanne

http://www.melodiesdumonde.fr/?p=189

Au programme:  
 

Amadou & Mariam, Cheick-TidianeSeck, Bafing Kul, Mamani Keita, Askia Modibo, Mohamed Diaby, Sira Kouyaté, Fanta Disco, Pédro Kouyaté, Diaou kouyaté, Youssouf Karembé, Dalla Diallo, Malasson, Siscolère, Jah Sidy Boy, Dongonsadji , Lassana Awa, Troupe Bankady et plus.

L’association Mélodies du Monde en partenariat avec la Coordination des élus français d’origine malienne (CEFOM) vous invitent à une grande manifestation pour la paix au  Mali,  Concert précédé d’une conférence-débat à Saint-Denis, le jour du 52ème anniversaire de son  indépendance.

Programme :

14h15 : Le Maire  Didier Paillard  recevra Amadou  & Mariam et les intervenants au débat de cette manifestation

15H00  Une  conférence se tiendra lieu une conférence pour présenter les grands aspects de la crise malienne. Cette présentation sera suivie d’un débat sur les perspectives de paix et les conditions nécessaires pour préserver l’intégrité territoriale du Mali

Les intervenants :
- Les Générations Libres : Une mission d’information est partie de Paris pour le Nord du Mali. Elle nous présente le bilan de ses travaux.
-Le  Professeur  Bandjougou Diakité : Enseignant-chercheur, étude de l’Histoire ancienne et moderne du Mali : Les  différents acteurs la crise au Mali
- Le Professeur Issa NDiaye : Enseignant-chercheur, étude des processus démocratiques en Afrique de l’Ouest. : Les origines  du conflit  dans le nord
- La CEFOM  : Madame Sokona Niakhaté :.Coopération  décentralisée, réflexions sur la sortie de crise.
- La FAFRAD : Monsieur Yera Dembélé : Investisseurs de la diaspora et développement face la crise au Mali

 Les concerts débuteront à 18H30 et se prolongeront jusqu’aux derniers métros.
De nombreux artistes incarnant la richesse de la culture malienne et déterminés à envoyer un message de paix :
Amadou & Mariam, Cheick-TidianeSeck, Bafing Kul, Mamani Keita, Askia Modibo, Mohamed Diaby, Sira Kouyaté, Fanta Disco, Pédro Kouyaté, Diaou kouyaté, Youssouf Karembé, Dalla Diallo, Malasson, Siscolère, Jah Sidy Boy, Dongonsadji , Lassana Awa, Troupe Bankady et plus.


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CONCERT POUR LA PAIX AU MALI AVEC :

• AMADOU & MARIAM,CHEICK TIDIANE SECK
• Musiques d'Afrique
• le samedi 22/09/2012 à 15h00

LA COUR DE LA MAISON DE LA JEUNESSE
12 place de la Résistance
Dans la cour - la Maison de Jeunesse
93200 ST DENIS

Acheter vos places:
http://www.fnacspectacles.com/place-spectacle/manifestation/Musiques-d-Afrique-CONCERT-POUR-LA-PAIX-AU-MALI-AVEC---MJ22S.htm 

African photographs in Brooklyn

Gorgeous pictures of a lively, colourful and magical Africa are appearing on the New York Time photography blog Lens this Monday:

 By Peter DiCampo

Picturing Everyday Life in Africa

By JAMES ESTRIN

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/17/picturing-everyday-life-in-africa/?smid=fb-share 

Photographs from “Everyday Africa” by Mr. DiCampo and Mr. Merrill will be exhibited at the The VII Gallery at 28 Jay Street in Brooklyn Sept. 20 through Oct. 18. There will be a closing reception on Oct. 18.

See more about the Gallery here:


http://www.viiphoto.com/news/exhibition-isee-everyday-africa/ 

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I wish I could be in Brooklyn again to see the exhibit! Go for me. 

La Rentree - To do list

Because by nature, travel has to end, maybe only to start again but that's another story, it has to end, so I left Mexico and I now have to tackle with "La Rentree".

This is my to do list, not necessarily in that order:

- Read my friend Julien Capron's novel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6W89Vvy3JlY&feature=relmfu


- Watch the episodes of my friend Marine's friend Doria's Meteo au Grand Journal de Canal + I missed while travelling:
http://www.canalplus.fr/c-divertissement/pid2834-c-la-meteo-de-doria.html?vid=718298


- Write a couple of articles about Rwanda/DRC and South Africa to put myself back on track with African news


- Write a report on Somalia's election process for Noria Research, see here:
http://www.noria-research.com/

And more here:
http://syrie.blog.lemonde.fr/2012/09/06/les-minorites-dernier-vivier-de-soldats-pour-le-regime-syrien/


- Cover the Malian music festival for Peace in Saint-Denis this Saturday:
 http://www.facebook.com/events/272708582828970/
Who is in by the way?


- Listen to the conference on Mexican Literature at the Festival America in Vincennes this Sunday:

Mexique

dimanche 23 septembre 2012 de 12h00 à 13h00

Maison des Associations - Salle Paul Rumeau (niveau +1)
41/43 rue Raymond du Temple 94300 Vincennes 

Animé par Patrick Bard

Eduardo Antonio PARRA, David TOSCANA

http://www.festival-america.org/les-evenements/les-sc%C3%A8nes/mexique.html


- Other events at the Festival America includes:

http://www.festival-america.org/les-evenements/les-grands-d%C3%A9bats/le-b%C3%BBcher-des-vanit%C3%A9s.html


- Classify those pictures from New York and Mexico...


- Oh and start this new job.

Anything I forgot?

Have a good week!

Cronicas Amexicanas: Miami in transit

Travels luckily also often involve randomness and surprises.

Arriving very early at Mexico City Benito Juarez airport this morning, I was beginning to think that I had lost all appetite for risks, realising I was in about three hours before my flight, when I was told at the American Airlines counter that indeed my 8:30 flight to Miami was cancelled... And that I could be rebooked on the 6:30 flight. Gosh, I was early!

I had to run though the security check and avoid the duty free shops despite the promises I made to bring back a few things, and finally got on the aircraft a few minutes before take-off.

I was about to be in Miami for much longer than expected. Miami, Florida, the home of my second expatriation, a place I had never come back to after Mr Obama's election, because, well, as a certain Charles Dickens wrote usefully for us in A Tale of Two Cities, "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times". Now four years later, I am actually by chance taken back on the infamous site.

But before I actually put feet in Miami, I had to go through the US immigration, which always carries its possibility of surprises and randomness, yes again. After queuing twice for a misgiving of paperworks, I was weirdly interrogated by the immigration agent. He actually wished I had applied for a tourist visa on top of my journalist visa... As I was coming back from Mexico this time, I was not actually working and should have applied for a tourist permit, he argued, already knowing that I was not in any way in a wrong situation and that he would in the end let me through... But before doing so, he had to consult another agent and add a little pressure. Looking at him gazing at my multiple Ethiopian and Somalian visas, I could feel I was on the wrong side of travellers, arriving from Mexico, with two passeports and stamps from all over African and Muslim countries. I remained calm, maybe out if tiredness - short last Mexican night. But I could not help but wonder how much bother the agent could cause to less exposed travellers, Mexicans not understanding English, migrants with the wrong visa, etc. Ah you Amexican border...

After a waste of 20 minutes, I only had to go through the customs and declare...  I had nothing to declare. But again, the agent wasn't so kind as to let it go smoothly. A green-eyed hispanic-sounding confident agent asked me why I travelled to Mexico. I replied I was just visiting. He added "visiting from France? A boyfriend then?" I did not have to answer to that question but I did: "No just visiting a friend". But he could not change his mind: "that far, from France to Mexico, it has to be a boyfriend, and a very special one"... He let me through, smiling. Was he trying to flirt? I wondered, did I get something wrong in the search for travel?

Anyway, knowing I was not going to quench that search in a Miami minute, I tried to blow it away, and headed to the airtain, I then discover with pleasure that Miami now had a direct bus to Downtown and Miami Beach! Unlike four years ago. What an improvement for me. It is now possible to reach the airport from South Beach in just half an hour and for 2 dollars.

Then here I am on Lincoln Road, enjoying my favourite Cobb salad at the Van Dyck Café I used to come almost twice a week in 2008 with the friends I met in this crazy city to have lunch or to listen to some jazz...

Time flies. I would never have imagined to be here four years after that 2008 summer. So much has happened since then. In particular Africa! If I had stayed in the US as I had planned at some point, who would I be today? Definitely not the same.

I feel heartbroken to have left fantastico Mexico, but it is for a good cause: my next trip will take me back on the Africa soil...

Cheers Amexican folks and thanks again for everything.