FTC Final Project

As part of the final VOICES Showcase for 2009, we created this short narrative film to promote our work in Feelin' The Cuts!

Enjoy

FTC meets PYC

Ok, so we met with the Philadelphia Youth Commission about 2 weeks ago. We talked about alot of things regarding the cuts happening within the city and interviewed several members of the commission.

I don't know too much about them, but, according to their mission statement, "The Commission represents Philadelphia’s youth in public hearings and gives testimony that reflects the youth perspective." I think that's cool. Us at Feeling the Cuts were happy to be able to talk to them and get their perspectives on what's going on with the city's budget.

We have video!

Dev's First Blog!

The townhall meeting to me was very essential because I got to understand more of what the whole 5 year plan was about. I expected for it to be a little uptight or eccentric, if you will. But it was different because I thought that the city council memberswould be more uptight, but they displayed their self as down to earth kind of people. Even though this was my first time I feel a bit more profound from hearing and being at that meeting. First when I heard Darrel Clarke and how articulate he was, it made me loosen up and actually live through his experiences vicariously. So that was fun to me in a more personal manner. You may find this funny, but a guy like me isn't into politics but my will to learn about my surroundings is wicked, like for instance I never knew what FY08 meant, and when I found out that it meant fiscal year 2008 I felt a little dumb. However there was not a lot of youth there but even so it was intricate and prudent to all of the curious people in the world.

They're Feelin' It

Hello All,

So a lot has been going on Feelin' the Cuts and Philadelphia politics recently. On March 19th Mayor Nutter proposed his "People's Budget" based off what people at the Penn Project for Civic Engagement Budget Forums had to say. After being part of the forums, we felt it only right that we be at City Hall to hear the proposal. The atmosphere was tense to say the least. You can read more about it in the Philadelphia Inquirer's front-page article from March 20, 2009.

Not to be outdone, City Council's Committee of the Whole has taken their hearings to the people, hosting their meetings in the community to hear testimony directly from the people. Last night was the first night of these hearings, and City Council came right here, to Temple University.

The committee heard testimony from a long list of people, mainly leaders of non-profit organizations and community members, worried about cuts and about the proposed tax hikes on real estate and sales.

The general consensus seemed to be that these were tough times, and people are looking to City Council to help Philadelphia and its citizens through this crisis.

Two FTC interns, myself included, and two FTC VOICES members went to hear what everyone had to say. We were even interviewed by The Temple News!

There will be three or four more public hearings like this. The schedule isn't confirmed yet, but you can bet that FTC will be making sure we get all the information and share it with you.

Best,
Liz

What's up

This is Zack, just entering the world of blogging, feel as though that I should share my 2cents on the Feelin' the Cuts group. So far Feelin' the Cuts attended a number of town hall meetings 4 the cuts and budget in Philadelphia. Though I have not attended a meeting myself, my comrades have been able to cover a lot of questions and provided ideas for the budget cuts that were talked over in our group meeting. I've heard great stories about the meetings, such as the Devin getting interviewed by the Temple News, and would like to attend the next to give you my own personal feedback!!

Art is for feelin'

We all know that Philly is not the only place Feelin' The Cuts. The current economic crisis is far-reaching, and cities all across the U.S. (and the world for that matter) are struggling to save important services for their residents while searching for creative ways to increase revenue (if taxes can be called creative...)

New York, for example, is facing a $1.2 billion deficit just on their transit system - the MTA. That's Philadelphia's 5 year budget deficit for the entire city that needs to be cut just out of New York's subways and buses. Now MTA is a lot more efficient than, say, SEPTA, so probably some service reductions will still ensure that the city continues to function. But during a recession, when many depend on public transit for an inexpensive and dependable means of getting around, some people are still going to be affected.

This article in the NY Times shows how two artists, Miranda Purves and Jason Logan, interpret the effect of the transit cuts on the MTA passengers Purves and her son have recently gotten to know. Instead of analyzing numbers, their simple drawing shows little details about the regular people who are being affected by the crisis in human ways, not huge economic ones.

I'm posting this here for two purposes: FIRST, to remind us that we are not alone, though our fight is still ours to fight! And SECOND, for inspiration - let's make art to show how and who in Philly is Feelin' it, to remind us that this is about people, not dollars.

Looking for youth to join the FTC Fam!

Hey guys! Just wanted to briefly touch base on what's going down in the next couple of weeks... We have some really cool events in the works, so stay tuned! But as of right now, we are looking for some creative, talented and passionate youth to join our team and help spread our mission--to encourage and educate youth and to provide an outlet for youth to share their voices. These times are particularly frustrating for youth and it is important to take advantage of our political rights and develop a youth perspective on the ongoing budget cuts.

One thing we're trying to put together is a type of youth forum, where we can discuss and debate issues concerning the current economic crisis and how this may affect the youth. We'll also be working closely with media, particularly blogging and film production. Tomorrow, Earla and I will be giving a presentation on Feelin' the Cuts and hopefully we can recruit some great people to help us achieve our goal.

Until next time!

Peace out xoxo
-Jess

The Budget Cut Forums

Feelin' The Cuts went to two of the four budget cut meetings held last month: In the Northeast and in South Philly. People from the areas they were held in came out to speak their mind. These forums were different from the mayoral forums held in December because the mayor didn't attend any of them, which I can only imagine how relieved he was to not go to. The Mayor is catching alot of heat from every Tom, Dick and Rasheed over these cuts. It's understandable to be upset, but really, let the man do his job and try to help the cause instead of talking for the sake of talking. Nobody wants funding cut from whatever it is they do but it has to happen. It's crazy but that's how it is. Sometimes you have to sacrifice for the greater good, so at least try to be more understanding instead of raging about it... Sorry, I sometimes get off track, but it's cool because I always kill it with the funky-fresh perspective that knocks your socks off because of how right I am, lol.

But back to the forum...

Instead of the people voicing their opinions in the large group (which was roughly 400 people at both of the ones we attended), everyone was broken down into smaller groups. Once in the separate groups, we were asked to form our budget through discussing the issues on a paper that was given to us at the very beginning of the meeting. We were told that these would be taken into consideration while planning FY10 (Fiscal Year 2010). Even Michael Nutter said it! So if I find out otherwise, I will be deeply saddened by the people making the decisions. Who knows if I would ever be able to trust politicians after that? I surely don't. But, there were other ways to voice your opinion besides the groups. There was a video room, where you could talk abut what was on your mind regarding the budget crisis, as well as a "wailing wall," where you wrote out your thoughts on a small yellow piece of paper that was stuck to a board. So, if you really needed to get your voice heard, you had several means of doing so. Here's a link to the report given to Mayor Nutter regarding these forums.

Also, to explain how these forums worked, briefly, there were four categories:

• Low-Hanging Fruit: Things that people could agree on being cut;
• No Way, No How: Things that people could agree on NOT cutting;
• Gut-Wrenchers and "Share the Pain" were things that were either tough to cut, but you cut them anyway (Gut-Wrenchers), or you were more willing to cut them ("Share the Pain").

The goal was to get to 100 points and cover all of the topics (in less than 2 hours), but alot of times it didn't work out that way. In the groups that I worked in, the first got to 40 and the second got to maybe 15. It was difficult.

My personal thought about these meetings, initially, was that it was going to be boring and really unproductive because people wouldn't get heard like they thought they would get heard... Especially the YOUTH(!!!), who were far and few in between at these things. If I may go off track for a minute... ("Yes you can, Cee!") young people need to be more involved in stuff like this because, basically, these politicians and such are the people that essentially run your life. If you don't get out and tell them what you need, they'll give you what they think you need. A lot of people say that children are the future, but honestly, I don't believe they believe that... But that's another blog for another time. So, to finish up here, I'm encouraging young people, wherever you are reading this, to get informed about your city government because if you don't step up, then you or your younger siblings/cousins/friends won't be at the pool in the summer, or playing ball in the rec center, or even going to the library to read Green Eggs and Ham and other Pulitzer-worthy literature. Definitely, if you're young and have any sort of ambition about what you do or want to do, you need to learn how it's done and what they're doing to make it possible (or not possible) for you.

There was also food to keep us happy!

The Awesome Feelin' The Cuts crew

Philadelphia Youth Commission Budget Forum

We Love Our Library Celebration

Feelin' the Cuts visited Charles L. Durham Library on Valentine's Day to partake in the "We Love Our Library" celebration happening there. Youth and their parents that use the library on a regular basis got together to show their appreciation for the library and tell our elected officials that they want it to stay open! The event was put together in part by the Coalition to Save the Libraries. To get involved visit coalitiontosavethelibraries.blogspot.com .

The POWER of VOICING your concerns.

This is not exactly about Philadelphia's budget cuts, but totally on the topic of young people engaging in politics and speaking out to the people in power.

A 19-year-old Julio Osegueda, who got the chance to ask the last question at President Obama's town hall meeting in Fort Myers, Florida, yesterday February 10th - ended up getting a job because of it!

Read the full story here, and watch him ask the question below:

Barack Obama visits the Free Library of Philadelphia

See what the president has to say about our libraries:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srPh7mmWoQ4

Kingsessing Town Hall Meeting

Hello, again! We apologize for the delay in our posts, but V-Media and the whole VOICES crew had to take a long healthy break for the holidays (Check out the UCCP Leaders Corps Holiday Video featuring V-Media's Aaron Kennedy and Earla Joseph). We are happy, however, that the people of Philadelphia didn't stop organizing and fighting for what they believe in!

If you haven't heard about it, we are totally excited about the 1st Victory for our libraries - a decision by Judge Idee Fox to halt the closing of the libraries and bring it to a city council vote. Read more about it here!

Also, if you are interested in being involved in securing the future of the libraries, check out the Coalition to Save the Libraries blog which is run by a group of concerned citizens working to keep the libraries open. They are having WEEKLY meetings to organize around the issue.

Finally, here's our video from the Kingsessing Town Hall Meeting, which was by far the rowdiest. The video has the local residents' reactions to the budget cuts, shows how some people would distribute the budget priorities, one man talking about an alternate plan for the kingsessing neighborhood in case the library does close and a member of the philadelphia student union asking Mayor Nutter a very powerful question! Watch it and let us know what you think!

Youth Development Conference 2008

On December 11th, members of the Leaders Corps and V-Media attended and presented at the Youth Development Conference at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Youth from all over Philly, even Camden, came together to highlight their successes and projects, participate in workshops and become better leaders in their communities. The youth also had a chance to talk to Mayor Nutter about the budget crisis and how it is affecting them and their education.

Here are some bits of that conversation:



We learned that one of the libraries that's getting closed is the Fumo Family Library, and found out why this particular library is so important to its community.

Roxborough Town Hall Meeting Pt. 2

V-MEDIA's Kim Russell asks Mayor Nutter a question about the impact of the budget cuts on youth. See how he responds!



WHAT DO YOU THINK? Is it up to the parents to engage their kids or should the city ensure that local resources for youth are available?

Roxborough Town Hall Meeting Pt. 1

Kim breaks down the signs explaining the city budget and approaches to cutting programs.


See what Roxborough citizens think about the cuts:


Citizens react to the town hall meeting:


What do YOU think? Have you been to a town hall meeting? Did you find the experience helpful or frustrating? Share your story.

North East

Phew. V-Media had a long week traveling to each of the town hall meetings in the North East, Roxborough and at Ben Franklin High School. That's 6 for 6! We also presented two workshops at the United Way Youth Development Conference 2008 on "Youth, Media and Identity" and "Connecting through Spoken Word" and interviewed a lot of young people there about how the budget cuts are affecting them. We are in the process of editing and uploading all the great footage we got, so stay tuned for more entries. For this episode, Mosi Blaylock reports on the North East:

This was my second town hall meeting; my first was at the School of the Future. It was interesting how each of the town meetings were different from each other. For example, at the School of the Future, the crowd was more focused on the libraries and asking the mayor about how he made the decisions. The crowd at the School of the Future was also more diverse: people from the community, people from City Hall and people from other communities that were just concerned about the issues. At the North East meeting, the support was mostly coming from people from that local community and the majority of their questions were geared towards firehouses.

Here are two questions about libraries from the North East that we thought were interesting.

Will BookMobiles replace our libraries?




A teacher's view on libraries:





Again, check back soon for some really interesting interview footage.

Save Our Libraries Rally

This Saturday, December 6th, V-Media was at the Save Our Libraries Rally on 19th and Vine. Mayor Nutter announced that he'll be cutting 11 library branches out of 54, a decision that has upset a lot of people, groups and communities. Among the groups present were Friends of the Free Library, who are organizing petition drives and raising money to keep the libraries open. They were also suggesting that instead of closing some of the libraries, the whole system should share the cut, by closing on some days or reducing their hours.

Check out the video from the event! (We started editing our footage to make it more digestible - let us know what you think :)



Some of the reasoning behind choosing to close 11 library branches was looking at the branches that lend out the least books. But from all the interviews we did, and all the people we talked to, young people and community members use libraries more to access the internet, apply for jobs and find resources that are not available to them in their homes or already underfunded schools. Librarians serve as pathfinders and instructors, guiding library patrons to accurate sources and assisting them in using the software they need to get jobs and do their homework.

The other reason 11 library branches are getting cut is because apparently Philadelphia has more libraries per capita than many other cities, and the director Siobhan Reardon would like to make it a "smaller, stronger system". Sure, Philly may have "too many" libraries. But it also has one of the highest crime rates, drop-out rates, unemployment rates and one of the lowest literacy rates in the country. Maybe cutting libraries will make sense, when you fix our schools, community centers, after-school and violence prevention programs.

If that is not convincing, maybe the man who convinced the whole country last month will be. President-Elect Barack Obama says he got his community organizing job at the library. Philadelphia, are you sacrificing the future of potential president-elects?

School of the Future, West Philly

Reese interviewing Cynthia Young at the School of the Future.



Are we the people being listened to? Reese interviewing Tyrone.




Reese interviewing Amarah Nieem

Feelin' The Cuts at Kensington

Here are the interviews for the Kensington budget cut meeting with a special intro from Aaron Kennedy:



Interview with Queena Bass, former candidate for mayor:


Interview with Fire commissioner Ayers:


Is there money that the city isn't tapping into? Interview with Joe Carlin:


Fishtown citizen fighting to keep Fishtown library open:


(this is the picture Natalia took when she accidentally walked into the shot. Oops!)


So tell us what do YOU think? Leave a comment or send us an e-mail at feelingthecuts@yahoo.com