News America

Friday, December 8, 2017

Women in Delhi Use Open Information Law to Get Services

A law that permits Indians to get information about their government is helping a group of women in Delhi get needed services. The women have led a successful campaign demanding that city officials improve access to water, waste removal services and transportation. The women live in Savda Ghevra, a slum resettlement colony for people who have been moved from extremely poor areas. It is the largest such colony outside of the city of New Delhi. The success of the women is a rare example of poor people in India using the Right to Information Act to change their community. Access to basic services When they hear the water trucks arrive, residents of Savda Ghevra rush out of their homes to fill their containers. Doing this can be difficult. But after living without access to tap water for many years, residents are pleased that the water truck comes every day. "We used to bring water from such a long distance," said Urmila Devi. "We could not even offer anyone a glass of water; we had to keep it for our children." Devi was among the 30,000 people who were moved to a place outside the city when India's capital was preparing for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. However, the people in the colony have been struggling to get services they need, such as clean water. But the situation started to change when women like Devi learned how to use the law to get basic services. The women filed applications under the Right to Information Act. They learned that trucks that were supposed to bring water to their area were going to other places. This is a common problem in Delhi where there is not enough water. Often, the trucks would go to places where residents could pay for the water. The requests led officials to place tracking devices on the water trucks. In addition, a device was installed in Savda Ghevra to supply water in case home supplies become low. The Right to Information Act became law in 2005. Since then, citizens have filed tens of thousands of applications through it. They have sought information about things like damaged roads. The success that the women had with accessing water moved them to demand other services, such as public toilets and a health center. A community center also is being built. Few public buses used to serve the area, but that has recently changed, too. Learning how to file the documents was not easy for these women, many of whom have difficulty reading and writing. At first, their writing was not very good, Devi said. But, it slowly improved, especially with the help of younger boys and girls involved in the project. A nonprofit group provides help The community learned to file the applications and to deal with city officials through a project led by a nonprofit organization called Marg. Devi and the other women remember traveling for long distances to attend the meetings. After believing for their whole lives that they did not have legal rights, it was hard for them to believe that they did. It took the women almost one year to learn how to petition officials. Mohammed Noor Alam is the program manager at Marg. He says women were the most willing to learn because they are the most affected by lack of services, especially water. Alam says filing the application for water taught the women that they could claim other rights. He also says this has created lasting change. Women like Nazra Khatun are now turning their attention to social problems such as safety for women and young girls. She said that the women feel empowered after their efforts. Now, they would like to end domestic violence in their community. The power of activism has turned these women into community leaders, Alam said. “They are like hawks keeping watch on everything.” When women lead such a holistic change, all of society can progress, he said. I'm Lucija Millonig. And I'm Alice Bryant. Anjana Pasricha reported this story for VOA News. Alice Bryant adapted it for Learning English. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story access – v. a way of being able to get or use something slum – n. an area of a city where poor people live and the buildings are in bad condition tap – n. a device for controlling the flow of a liquid or gas from a pipe or container file – v. to give something, such as an official form or a document, to someone in authority so that it can be considered install – v. to make a machine ready to use in a certain place toilet – n. a large bowl attached to a pipe that is used for getting rid of bodily waste and then flushed with water petition – v. to ask a person, group, or organization for something in a formal way domestic violence – n. violent behavior in the home, commonly involving the violent abuse of a spouse or romantic partner hawk – n. a kind of bird that kills other birds and animals for food holistic – adj. relating to or concerned with complete systems rather than with individual parts

from Voice of America http://ift.tt/2iGiAgo
via IFTTT

Christmas Attractions Across America

Cities all across the United States are dressing up for the Christmas season with trees, lights and holiday magic. Today, we look at a few of them. New York City In New York City, one of the best-known holiday attractions is Rockefeller Center’s Christmas tree in Manhattan. The tree is lit during a public ceremony in late November. The city has displayed a large Christmas tree here since 1933. This year’s tree is 23 meters tall and covered with 50,000 lights. A Swarovski crystal sits on top. Ornate window displays are another New York Christmas tradition. Large department stores along the famous shopping area of Fifth Avenue create imaginative displays during the holiday season. Stores choose different themes every year. This year, for example, Saks Fifth Avenue’s windows celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Disney film “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.” Another famed department store, Bergdorf Goodman, celebrates New York's diverse museums and cultural sites, such as the Philharmonic and the New York Historical Society. The Fifth Avenue windows are so popular that police use long ropes to set up controlled lines for the window viewing. Baltimore, Maryland Miracle on 34th Street is a well-known and beloved American Christmas movie. And there is actually a real Miracle on 34th Street – in Baltimore, Maryland. Every year, Baltimore residents along a block of 34th street put up an almost blindingly bright display of Christmas lights and decorations. Thousands of people visit the block to see the bright and colorful display of Christmas cheer, now in its 71st year. The event opened with an official lighting ceremony on November 25 and will continue through the holidays. New Orleans, Louisiana Every December, City Park in New Orleans, Louisiana, becomes a winter wonderland. It features more than 10 hectares of light displays, it's famous old oak trees wrapped in thousands of twinkling lights. More than 165,000 people visit the so-called Celebration in the Oaks each year. New Orleans also celebrates its French Creole connection each holiday season with Reveillon dinners. Reveillon comes from the French word for “awakening.” The 19th-century French Creole tradition began as a large meal eaten after midnight mass on Christmas Eve. The “reveillon” tradition is still alive in New Orleans’ French Quarter. Restaurants there offer special Reveillon meals that include oysters and other seafood, meat, soup, dessert and more. North Pole, Alaska The icy North Pole is said to be the home of Santa Claus. So it is no surprise that the small Alaskan town with the same name is home to the world’s largest Santa statue. It stands in front of Santa Claus House, the center of the town’s Christmas activities. While the town displays Christmas decorations all year round, it really comes alive in December. The North Pole Christmas in Ice contest brings ice artists from around the world to the town of 2,000 people. Visitors can slide down frozen slides and work their way through complex ice mazes. Indianapolis, Indiana The central U.S. city of Indianapolis, Indiana is famous for its yearly Indy 500 automobile race. During the winter holiday season, the world-famous race track fills up with more than two million Christmas lights, 500 light displays and 40 holiday scenes. Visitors are permitted to drive their own cars on the speedway. Los Angeles, California A traditional Mexican festival takes place in Los Angeles, California. The nine-day Las Posadas celebration is one of the city’s oldest Christmas events. Las Posadas can be found on Olvera Street, considered the first street of the city. The celebration commemorates the story of Mary and Joseph traveling from Nazareth to Bethlehem to prepare for Jesus’ birth. Celebrations are held nightly from December 16 through December 24. The events include a candlelight parade. Children clothed to look like shepherds, angels, and Mary and Joseph lead the march, followed by worshipers. The public can also join the parade or just watch from the side. The group sings songs in English and Spanish as they walk. “Posada” means “inn” or “shelter” in Spanish. During the parade, the marchers stop at stores along Olvera Street that pretend to be inns. They ask the business owners for shelter. The stores usually deny the request, often in song. Finally, one will say yes, and the marchers are admitted. Free hot drinks and sweet bread are served. Grand Canyon Railway, Arizona Many scenic railways around the country offer train rides that center on Santa Claus and Christmas. In Arizona, the Grand Canyon Railway brings to life the classic children’s book “Polar Express,” written by Chris Van Allsburg. The train sets off from Williams, Arizona and travels for 90 minutes until it arrives at “Santa’s Village,” where Santa and his elves welcome the passengers. Santa and his helpers ride the train back to Williams with the children. Each child receives one a small bell as a gift. Does your city, town or village do something special for the holiday season? I'm Caty Weaver. And I'm Ashley Thompson. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story magic - n. a very pleasant, attractive, or exciting quality attraction- n. something interesting or enjoyable that people want to visit, see, or do ornate - adj. covered with decorations : covered with fancy patterns and shapes theme- n.the main subject that is being discussed or described in a piece of writing, a movie, etc. twinkling- adj. shining brightly and then faintly. soup- n. a food made by cooking vegetables, meat, or fish in a large amount of liquid dessert- n. sweet food eaten after the main part of a meal slide- v. to move smoothly along a surface maze - n. a complicated and confusing system of connected passages commemorate- v. to exist or be done in order to remind people of (an important event or person from the past) classic- adj. to exist or be done in order to remind people of (an important event or person from the past)

from Voice of America http://ift.tt/2nK7Seb
via IFTTT

Two New Museums Tell Mississippi's Story

The southern U.S. state of Mississippi turns 200 years old on Sunday. The day before, the state will open two museums that examine its history. The museums are in Jackson, the state capital. They aim to tell Mississippi’s past clearly and honestly, even when the stories are ugly. The Museum of Mississippi History takes the long view, 15,000 years from the Stone Age until modern times. The Mississippi Civil Rights Museum targets a shorter -- and intense -- period from 1945 to 1976. Katie Blount is director of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. “We are telling a much longer story in the Museum of Mississippi History, a much deeper story in the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum,” Blount said. “We want everybody to walk in one door, side by side, to learn all of our state’s stories.” The general history museum presents Native American culture, European settlement, slavery, the Civil War and Reconstruction. It examines natural disasters, including the Mississippi River flood in 1927 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005. It also has pop culture pieces, such as the jeweled headpiece worn by Mary Ann Mobley, the first Mississippian to win the Miss America competition. The opening comes at the end of a year of events to honor the state’s 200th anniversary. Some events this year celebrated Mississippi’s success at producing influential writers and musicians, such as William Faulkner, Richard Wright, B.B. King and Elvis Presley. Others took a critical look slavery and segregation. President Donald Trump plans to attend the opening of the two new museums, a White House official said Monday. Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant, a Trump supporter, invited the president to the opening. The president of the civil rights group Mississippi NAACP has asked Bryant to withdraw the invitation. And the group’s state chapter president, Charles Hampton, said, “An invitation to a president that has aimed to divide this nation is not becoming of this historic moment.” A state divided by its flag Mississippi is one of the nation’s poorest states. Its population is 59 percent white and 38 percent black. The state is sharply divided by one of its best-known symbols; it is the last state with a flag featuring the Confederate battle emblem. All eight public universities, as well as several cities and counties, have stopped flying it in recent years. None of the flags fly outside the new museums. Ellie Dahmer is the wife of former civil rights leader Vernon Dahmer, who was murdered by the white supremacist Ku Klux Klan in 1966. She said the flag represents an unapologetic defense of slavery. She expressed wonder over the existence of the civil rights museum in a state that will not change its flag. One display in the civil rights museum tells about the KKK firebombing of the Dahmer home outside Hattiesburg. Vernon Dahmer had announced he would pay poll taxes for black people registering to vote. He fired back at Klansmen who were shooting at his burning house. The family escaped, but Vernon Dahmer died from his burns. The couple’s 10-year-old daughter was also severely burned. Parts of the Dahmers’ bullet-damaged truck are in the museum, along with photographs. The Mississippi museum joins several like it in the country: the Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta; the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee; the Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery, Alabama and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute in Alabama. The National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., opened 2016. Confronting the past 'unflinchingly' Eddie S. Glaude Jr. is a 49-year-old Mississippi native and chairman of African American Studies at Princeton University. He called Mississippi “ground zero” for the civil rights movement. He said it is meaningful that the state presents an honest report of its history. “America can’t really turn a corner with regard to its racist and violent past and present until the South, and particularly a state like Mississippi, confronts it — and confronts it unflinchingly,” Glaude said. In the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, columns list some 600 documented lynchings — most of them of black men. One gallery’s ceiling is covered with racist advertising images from the past. Ku Klux Klan robes are also on display. So are mug shots of black and white Freedom Riders arrested in Jackson in 1961 for protesting segregation on buses. A large display tells the story of Emmett Till. In 1955, the 14-year-old black boy was visiting Money, Mississippi. While there, he interacted with a white woman in a store. The interaction angered the woman’s husband. Four days later, he and another family member kidnapped and beat the child to death. The central gallery of the civil rights museum also provides a hopeful moment. A nine-meter-tall structure lights up as a soundtrack plays the folk song “This Little Light of Mine.” As more visitors enter, more voices join the chorus and more lights come on. The display represents the power of people working together to bring about change. I’m Alice Bryant. And I'm Phil Dierking. The Associated Press reported this story. Caty Weaver adapted it for VOA Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story anonymity –n. the quality or state of being unknown to most people : the quality or state of being anonymous symbol –n. an action, object, event, etc., that expresses or represents a particular idea or quality emblem –n. an object or picture used to suggest a thing that cannot be shown confront –v. to deal with (something) in an honest and direct way unflinching –adj. looking at or describing something or someone in a very direct way lynching –n. illegal execution by mob action, usually by hanging We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

from Voice of America http://ift.tt/2kbVWNf
via IFTTT

'Benito Cereno,' by Herman Melville, Part Two

We present the second of three parts of the short story "Benito Cereno." It was written by Herman Melville. Last week, we told how African slaves on a Spanish ship rebelled in seventeen ninety-nine. They killed most of the Spanish sailors. Only the captain, Benito Cereno, and a few others were left alive. The leader of the rebellion was a slave named Babo. He ordered Captain Cereno to sail the ship back to Senegal, the slaves' homeland. But food and water were low. So the ship stopped at an island off the coast of Chile to get the needed supplies. When it arrived, an American ship was in the harbor. The American captain, Amoso Delano, thought the Spanish ship might be in trouble. He would offer help. Babo decided to remain close to Captain Cereno and act as if he were the captain's slave. Babo would kill him if he told Captain Delano the truth about what happened. Now, here is Shep O'Neal to continue our story. As Captain Delano came up in his whale boat, he saw that the other ship needed scraping, tarring and brushing. It looked old and decayed. He climbed up the side and came aboard. He was quickly surrounded by a crowd of black men. Captain Delano looked around for the man who commanded the ship. The Spanish captain stood a little away off against the main mast. He was young looking, richly dressed but seemed troubled and tired with the spirit gone out of him. He looked unhappily toward his American visitor. At the Spanish's captain side stood a small black man with a rough face. Captain Delano struggled forward through the crowd, went up to the Spaniard and greeted him. He offered to help him in any way he could. Captain Benito Cereno returned the American's greeting politely, but without warmth. Captain Delano pushed his way back through the crowd to the gangway. He told his men to go and bring back as much water as they could, also bread, pumpkins, sugar and a dozen of his private bottles of cider. The whale boat pushed off. Left alone, Captain Delano again observed with fresh surprise the general disorder aboard the ship. Some of the men were fighting. There were no deck officers to discipline or control the violent ones. And everyone seemed to do as he pleased. Captain Delano could not fully understand how this could have happened. What could explain such a break down of order and responsibility? He asked Don Benito to give him the full story of his ship's misfortunes. Don Benito did not answer. He just kept looking at his American visitor as if he heard nothing. This angered Captain Delano, who suddenly turned away and walked forward to one of the Spanish seamen for his answer. But he had hardly gone five steps when Don Benito called him back. "It is now 190 days," Don Benito began, "that the ship sailed from Buenos Aires for Lima with a general cargo. Pedigree, tea, and the like, and a number of Negros, now not more than a 150 as you see, but then numbering over 300 souls. The ship was officered and well-manned, with several cabin passengers. Some 50 Spaniards in all. Off Cape Horn we had heavy gales." Captain Cereno coughed suddenly and almost collapsed. He fell heavily against his body servant. "His mind wanders," said Babo. "He was thinking of the disease that followed the gales. My poor, poor master. Be patient señor, these attacks do not last long. Master will soon be himself." Don Benito recovered, and in a broken voice continued his story. "My ship was tossed about many days in storms off Cape Horn. And then there was an outbreak of scurvy. The disease carried off many whites and blacks. Most of my surviving seaman had become so sick that they could not handle the sails well. For days and nights we could not control the ship. It was blown north-westward. The wind suddenly left us in unknown waters with oppressive hot calms. Most of our water was gone. "And we suffered terribly, especially after a deadly fever broke out among us. Whole families of blacks and many Spaniards, including every officer but myself, were killed by the disease." Don Benito paused. He looked down at the black man at his side. Babo seemed satisfied. The Spanish captain saw him take his hand from the knife hidden under his shirt. Captain Delano saw nothing. His mind was filled with the terrible tale he had just heard. Now he could understand why the other captain seemed so shaken. He took Don Benito's hand and promised to give him all the help possible. He would give him a large permanent supply of water, and some sails and equipment for sailing the ship. And he also promised to let Don Benito have three of his best seamen for temporary deck officers. In this way, the San Dominick could without delay start for Concepcion. There the ship could be fixed and prepared for its voyage to Lima. Don Benito's face lighted up. He seemed excited by Captain Delano's generous offer. But, Babo appeared troubled. "This excitement is bad for master," Babo whispered, taking Don Benito's arm and with soothing words gently drawing him aside. When Don Benito returned, Captain Delano observed that his excitement was gone. Captain Delano decided to talk of other matters. But the Spanish captain showed no further interest. He answered Captain Delano's questions with sharp words and suddenly with an angry movement he walked back to Babo. Captain Delano watched the two men whispering together in low voices. It made an ugly picture, which Captain Delano found so extremely unpleasant that he turned his face to the other side of the ship. Their actions made Delano suspicious of Captain Cereno. He began to wonder about him. His behavior. His coughing attacks. His weakness. His empty wild looks. Was he really half mad or a faker playing a part? One moment Captain Delano had the worst suspicions of Don Benito. But the next he would feel guilty and ashamed of himself for having such doubts about the man. Presently, Don Benito moved back toward his guest, still supported by his servant. His pale face twitched. He seemed more nervous than usual. And there was a strange tone in his husky whisper as he spoke. "May I ask how many men you have on board, señor?" Captain Delano became uneasy, but answered. "About 25 all total." "And at present, señor, all on board?" "All on board," Captain Delano answered. "And will be tonight, señor?" At this last question, Captain Delano looked very seriously at Don Benito, who could not return the look but dropped his eyes to the deck. Captain Delano could think of only one reason for such a question. But no, it was foolish to think that these weak and starving men could have any idea of seizing his ship. But still he remained silent. "And will they be aboard tonight?" Again the question from Don Benito. Captain Delano decided to answer truthfully. Some of his men had talked of going off on a fishing party about midnight. And he told Don Benito this. As he answered, Captain Delano again looked straight at Don Benito. But the Spanish captain refused to meet his eyes. Then as before, he suddenly withdrew with his servant. And again the two men began whispering to each other in low voices. Captain Delano tried to push the worry from his mind. But what were those two strange men discussing? That will be our story next week. Download activities to help you understand this story here. What do you think of this story? Write to us in the Comments section or on our Facebook page. _______________________________________________________________ QUIZ ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story collapse - v. to fall down or become unconscious because you are sick or exhausted señor - n. a title or form of address used of or to a Spanish-speaking man, corresponding to Mr.or sir. recover - v. to become healthy after an illness or injury : to return to normal health scurvy - n. a disease that is caused by not eating enough fruits or vegetables that contain vitamin C survive - v. to remain alive; to continue to live equipment - n. supplies or tools needed for a special purpose temporary - adj. continuing for a limited amount of time : not permanent faker - n. a person pretending to be something they are not

from Voice of America http://ift.tt/2iGdlNK
via IFTTT

UNESCO Names Neapolitan Pizza a Cultural Heritage

This week, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO announced new members to its list of the "Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity." The 12 new members included Neapolitan pizza-making, among others. "Congratulations #Italy!" UNESCO said in a tweet after a meeting in Jeju, South Korea. Italy argued the practice of the "pizzaiuolo" was part of the country's cultural tradition. "Pizzaiuolo" relates to preparing and baking pizza in a wood-fired oven. In Rome, pizzeria owner Roman Fiore celebrated the decision. "I am honored, like all Italians and Neapolitans are … pizza has centuries of history," he said. Neapolitan pizza has a thin crust. The edge of the crust, when baked, grows larger. It looks like a bicycle tire. Perhaps the most famous kind of Neapolitan pizza is called the Margherita. It has tomato, mozzarella, oil, and basil. These ingredients give the pizza red, white, and green colors – the colors of the Italian flag. According to tradition, a local chef created the Margherita in 1889 to honor Queen Margherita. She was visiting Naples, south of Rome on Italy's coast. Some Italians do not like how foreigners have made changes to the traditional pizza. Before UNESCO's announcement, Matteo Martino, a customer at Fiore's pizzeria, said "I think, and I hope, that this could be the chance to make foreigners understand how pizza is made, without Nutella or pineapple." In its list of cultural heritage, UNESCO also accepted Chogan, an Iranian horse riding game, and Nsima, a cooking tradition from Malawi. The existing UNESCO list already includes Turkish coffee culture and tradition, Croatian gingerbread-crafting, and Georgian wine-making. I'm John Russell. John Russell adapted this story for Learning English based on Reuters news report. Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story intangible – adj. not made of physical substance : not able to be touched : not tangible wood-fired oven – n. a piece of cooking equipment that is used for baking or roasting food. It uses wood to fuel the fire. crust – n. the bread that is used to make a pizza Nutella – n. a brand of sweet cocoa spread pineapple – n. a large fruit that grows on a tropical tree and that has thick skin and very sweet, juicy, yellow flesh gingerbread – n. a cake or cookie made with molasses and ginger — often used before another noun

from Voice of America http://ift.tt/2iGyK9m
via IFTTT

Rwanda Invests in STEM Education for Girls

Yvonne Kevia is an 18-year-old high school student in Rwanda. She wants to become a chemical engineer. She enjoys doing experiments and taking careful notes in her high school laboratory in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital city. Kevia’s interest in science is important to her. But it is also part of a larger goal for the Rwandan government: to prepare more girls for science and technology related careers. The hope is to also create a model for other African governments to follow. “Yes we can as girls” Many girls in Kevia’s class are also interested in careers in science and technology. Keza Marie Aimeé is one of them. She plans to become a pilot. Her backup plan is to be a pharmacist, she says. "The first thing which came into my mind before choosing this school is that I wanted to live with girls who know what they want. The reason I want to become the pilot is that we're having few girls who are pilots and I want to show people that yes, we can as girls." Aimée and Kevia both attend the FAWE Girls' School. It is one of many STEM-centered schools in Rwanda that have opened in the past ten years. STEM is an education program that specializes in learning science, technology, engineering, and math. FAWE is considered one of the country’s best STEM schools. The boarding school admits girls from poor families. On national exams, the FAWE’s students often score in the top percentile. Pascale Dukuzi is a chemistry teacher at FAWE Girls’ school. He says it is important to encourage girls to study STEM fields. “…Believing that they have that potential of doing sciences as well as boys, I think it's very good for them because with sciences, one can do many things." Developing Rwanda with STEM The Rwandan Ministry of Education reports that the number of girls studying STEM in school is on the rise. The number of girls in secondary schools taking science classes grew from 48.7 percent in 2011 to over 55 percent in 2015. This is all part of the Rwandan government’s plan to transform the economy by 2020. It hopes to do this in part by increasing the number of people with careers in STEM fields. The World Bank says Rwanda is one of a small number of African countries leading the way in expanding STEM education. A 2017 report that measured the ability of African governments to develop science and technology fields placed Rwanda third, behind Morocco and Tanzania. The report said Rwanda’s efforts to expand STEM education include establishing a science ministry, creating research programs, partnering with private groups and awarding scholarships. The Ministry of Education’s budget increased nearly 10 percent from last year. Fourteen percent of its $280-million budget is for STEM projects. This includes developing "smart classrooms" with computers and internet connectivity and building a center for theoretical physics. The Rwandan government wants to double the current budget for STEM education at the university level. Learning despite barriers Jeannette Gahunga graduated from university three years ago with a degree in computer programming. Now she is a volunteer teacher at a public primary school in Kigali. She teaches her students how to create interactive animations using a free programming software called Skratch. Half of the students in her class are girls. Gahunga says she tries to support them, because mentorship is important to keeping girls on the STEM track. "They're able to make innovation, and they are not shy as before, now they are really learning very hard. The girls in my class, they are being the same as boys. They are hardworking as others and they are following very well." But girls still face cultural barriers, says Josephine Kobusingye, an education activist. She takes part in a support group where female science students get together to talk about their professional goals. "Culturally, African girls and women were the people to stay in the backdoors and never on the front line,” she said. Kobusingye added that another difficulty Rwandan women and girls deal with is the “after-effects of genocide.” “Some of these girls are orphans. Some of them are living with step-parents who do not support their education… Some of the girls have HIV-infected parents. These girls are dealing with so much,” Kobusingye said. However, she believes that with STEM, there is hope for them. I’m Phil Dierking. Chika Oduah reported this story for VOANews.com. Phil Dierking adapted her report for VOA Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor. Are STEM subjects important in schools in your home? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story boarding school - n. school where students can live during the school term double - adj. made of two parts that are similar or exactly the same encourage - v. to make (someone) more determined, hopeful, or confident innovation - n. a new idea, device, or method interactive - adj. designed to respond to the actions, commands, etc., of a user mentor - n. someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person programming - n. the act or job of creating computer programs orphan - n. a child whose parents are dead scholarship - n. an amount of money that is given by a school, an organization, etc., to a student to help pay for the student's education track - n. the course along which someone or something moves or proceeds transform - v. to change (something) completely and usually in a good way

from Voice of America http://ift.tt/2AKrrIn
via IFTTT

What It Takes - Sidney Pointier

00:00:02 OPRAH WINFREY: "Hattie Mae, this child is gifted," and I heard that enough that I started to believe it. 00:00:08 ROGER BANNISTER: If you have the opportunity, not a perfect opportunity, and you don't take it, you may never have another chance. 00:00:14 LAURYN HILL: It all was so clear. It was just, like, the picture started to form itself. 00:00:19 DESMOND TUTU: There was no way in which a lie could prevail over the truth, darkness over light, death over life. 00:00:27 CAROL BURNETT (quoting CARRIE HAMILTON): “Every day I wake up and decide, today I'm going to love my life. Decide.” 00:00:35 JOHNNY CASH: My advice is, if they're going to break your leg once when you go in that place, stay out of there. 00:00:40 JAMES MICHENER: And then along come these differential experiences that you don't look for, you don't plan for, but boy, you’d better not miss them. 00:00:53 ALICE WINKLER: At the 1964 Academy Awards, actress Anne Bancroft presented one of the most coveted Oscars of the night. 00:01:02 ANNE BANCROFT: The nominees for the best performance by an actor are Albert Finney in Tom Jones, Richard Harris in This Sporting Life, Rex Harrison in Cleopatra, Paul Newman in Hud, Sidney Poitier in Lilies of the Field. 00:01:21 The winner is Sidney Poitier in Lilies of the Field. 00:01:25 ALICE WINKLER: That glamorous evening, Sidney Poitier became the first African American to win Best Actor. There have only been three others since. 00:01:36 SIDNEY POITIER: Because it is a long journey to this moment, I am naturally indebted to countless numbers of people. For all of them, all I can say is a very special thank you. 00:01:58 ALICE WINKLER: Sidney Poitier changed the face of cinema by portraying characters who were complex, dignified, self-assured, and African American. I’m Alice Winkler. This is What It Takes, a podcast about passion, vision, and perseverance from the Academy of Achievement. The issue of diversity in Hollywood and at the Oscars has been the subject of much discussion over the past several months, so we thought it was an opportune time to devote this episode of What it Takes to Sidney Poitier. 00:02:34 His 2009 interview with the Academy of Achievement is full of surprising, inspiring stories about his childhood, his accidental entry into the world of theater and movies, and his choices as an actor. 00:02:50 SIDNEY POITIER: All of what I feel about life, I had to find a way in my work to be faithful to it, to be respectful of it. I couldn’t, and still can’t, play a scene — I cannot play a scene that I don’t find the texture of humanity in the material. I can’t. 00:03:17 HOMER: Stove. 00:03:18 NUNS: Stove! 00:03:21 HOMER: Stove is black. 00:03:23 NUNS: Stove is black. 00:03:27 HOMER: My skin is black. 00:03:29 NUNS: My skin is black. 00:03:32 HOMER: No. Her skin is white. My skin is black. 00:03:38 NUN: White? 00:03:39 ALICE WINKLER: Whether playing a doctor, a teacher, a streetwise student, a prison escapee, or a detective, the humanity that Sidney Poitier has always been determined to portray on screen came, he said, from growing up on Cat Island in the Bahamas. It's a tiny island. In the 1920s and '30s, when Poitier was a child, it had no paved roads, no running water, no electricity. 00:04:09 To understand all that Sidney Poitier would become, all that he would mean to America, we’re going to spend a good bit of time on his earliest years. Poitier says his parents were the model of kindness and respect, who survived on what they could catch in the sea and what they could grow on the land. 00:04:30 SIDNEY POITIER: My parents were tomato farmers. They farmed tomatoes, and they sold their tomatoes in Miami, Florida. They went by sailboat. And on one such trip, my mother was pregnant by some six, seven months, but her water broke, so it was that I was born in Florida unexpectedly. 00:04:55 And my dad, he had no confidence in my surviving. He left the house the following morning, and he went for a stroll, and that stroll ended up at the local undertaker’s parlor in a discussion centered around preparations for my burial. He came back to the house with this little shoebox. It was, in fact, a shoebox. 00:05:23 My mother would not accept that, and she left the house, and she decided to stop in and visit a soothsayer. You know what they are. They are fortune-tellers, in a peculiar sort of way. And she said, "You must not worry about that child. He will survive." She told my mother that I would travel to all the corners of the earth. 00:05:57 I will walk with kings. I will be rich and famous. I don’t know about that. But she said so. Everything that she said to my mom, it’s amazing. Everything came true. I still don’t have a fix on it, but I do believe that there are forces in nature that we don’t understand, and probably never will, that have influences on our lives that defy understanding. 00:06:37 ALICE WINKLER: Sidney Poitier says he generally stands more on the side of logic and reason than on faith, but it does defy some understanding, how this weakling of an infant, born in 1927 to dirt-poor islanders, grew up to rewrite the rules of what it meant to be a black man on the screen and a black man in the United States of America. 00:07:03 As an infant, Poitier did return with his family to Cat Island once he was strong enough to survive the trip, and he lived there until he was ten, with his four brothers and two sisters, attending the one-room schoolhouse occasionally, when he wasn’t needed on the farm. But then, in one of those little twists of historical fate, the State of Florida banned the import of tomatoes from the Bahamas. 00:07:30 Sidney Poitier’s father had to abandon the only work he’d ever known to look for work in the tourist industry on the much bigger island of Nassau. That was the first time Sidney Poitier saw a car. 00:07:45 SIDNEY POITIER: And when I did see a car — when I did see a car, whoa, whoa, whoa! I was on the boat with my mother, a sailboat, going into Nassau Harbor. This is the first time I'm leaving Cat Island. I’m coming in on a boat, and I’m just wild-eyed about — I see the island coming up, and then I saw what appeared to me to be a beetle, but it was massive. 00:08:17 It was huge, and I said to my mother, I said, "What’s that?" And she said, "That’s a car," because she had seen them in Miami and in Nassau before. It was just amazing, but so were so many other things, amazing, for me, for a long time on Nassau. 00:08:36 There were paved roads. Never seen a paved road. There were windows along the streets, and there were many things in the window, and I couldn’t understand it. I didn’t know what glass was. 00:08:50 ALICE WINKLER: He also had no idea what a movie was. 00:08:54 SIDNEY POITIER: I met these new kids, and they sort of embraced me, and they said to me — they said that they were going to a matinee, would I like to come? And I didn’t want them to know I didn't know what the word “matinee” meant, so I said, "Okay, sure, all right," you know. I want to be one of the group. So they went to this theater, but I didn’t know I was going to see a movie. 00:09:24 I had no idea. So they bought a ticket for me, and we went in, and we sat, and in this place — well, the whole place was seats. The lights go down, and a curtain, a big curtain thing opened up, and there was this big, white frame, and suddenly, out of nowhere, came letters, big letters, words. 00:09:51 I can barely read, so I just kind of waited to see what’s going to happen with this lit-up screen. Then I saw people, and it shocked me. How did they get there? Then I saw cows. And I saw wagons, and I saw brown people wearing skins and feathers. 00:10:22 I had no idea. That was my first movie. 00:10:27 ALICE WINKLER: Poitier did go to school on Nassau for a year or two, but then at 12-and-a-half, he quit. His family was in desperate financial shape, and Sidney was tall enough to pass as an older teenager, so he got a job. 00:10:42 SIDNEY POITIER: First I went to work as a water boy, working on construction, so I walked up and down the line where these guys were working, and I have this bucket and this dipper, and they would take a drink. And that was my job, but it didn’t pay very much, and my folks really were in need, and the guy that I went to, he was, like, the foreman, he gave me a pick and a shovel, and I was among the big guys. 00:11:08 I stayed at that job, and then I worked in a warehouse, where I had to take a 98-pound bag of rice or sugar or flour and stack them to the ceiling. We would lay the first foundation for it. Every bag of whatever would be put here until it covers the whole floor, and then we'll use that, each bag, as a step, and then we'll do another, and then another step, so that toward the end, I would have 98 pounds on my shoulder walking up these steps to the ceiling. 00:11:52 ALICE WINKLER: The backbreaking work gave Poitier varicose veins, he said, even at the young age of 14 or 15. 00:12:00 SIDNEY POITIER: I was leaving the house one day, and he stopped me. He was sitting at the door. I looked at him, and he looked at me. He felt my arm, and he said, "You’ve not been eating regularly, have you, son?" And I said to him, "Oh, I’m okay." I said, "I’m fine." I knew the weight that brought that out of him. 00:12:27 ALICE WINKLER: So at 15, Sidney Poitier left the Bahamas on his own and went to live with his brother in Miami. He quickly found a job making deliveries for Burdines department store, where his brother worked, but this was 1943, and Sidney Poitier’s life, though it had been hard, was about to become burdened in entirely new ways. 00:12:50 SIDNEY POITIER: I hated Florida. I hated Miami. I didn't know Florida, but I did hate it. I hated it because it was an unfair place. Unfair in that — well, I’ll get to that. So, I was told to deliver a package to Miami Beach. This is from Miami itself, and you go across the causeway, which you just walk across, or you take the bicycle. They had a bicycle for the delivery boys. 00:13:21 And they gave me the address, and I went up to the door, and I either knocked or pushed the button, and a lady came to the door, a white lady, and she said, "Yes?" And I said, "Ma'am, this is your package. I come from Burdines department store," and she said — she looked at me in the most amazing way, and she said, "Get around to the back." 00:13:55 And I didn’t understand. I really didn't understand it because she's standing right there. She obviously is the mistress of the house, and I'm standing within three feet of her! And this is a bigger house, and I said to myself, "Why do I have to take it around the back? It's a small package." If it were something that was too weighty for her, I certainly would carry it a mile, if that were the case. 00:14:27 But I wasn't aware of the depth of racism. I had been experiencing it every day there, but the impact of it in such a coarse way — she slammed the door in my face, and I took the package, and I sat it right down on the step in front of the house, and I left. 00:14:57 I go back to Burdines department store, and I did whatever my duties were. When the day was done, I went to Liberty City, which is where I lived. My brother lived there. I was living with him. And I had a few pennies, and I decided to go to a movie. At the end of the movie, now I'm going home to my brother's house, and I approach the house, and there are no lights on. 00:15:25 Well, I jiggled the doorknob. There's nothing. And then the door suddenly opens, and it’s my sister-in-law, my brother's wife, and she grabs me and pulls me into the house, slams the door, and on the floor she’s lying with her children. 00:15:50 And she pulls me down, and she said, "What did you do today?" And I said, "What did I do? What do you mean?" She explained to me that the Klan had come to the house looking for me, because I had misbehaved, I guess. I wasn’t as frightened as one might assume. I went to Miami from Nassau, and I went to Nassau from Cat Island. 00:16:25 And between Cat Island and Nassau, my perception of myself had already taken hold, so I was not — I didn’t spend the first 15 years of my life cringing in the presence of white people. The overwhelming majority of people in the Bahamas were black people, so that I saw people, how they behaved with each other. 00:16:59 I saw respect for each other. I saw laughter. I saw an embrace. It was an environment that nurtured me in ways that I wasn't even aware of, semi-primitive as it, in fact, was, but they treated each other respectfully. 00:17:18 ALICE WINKLER: Sidney Poitier’s father had taught him to call his elders “sir” and “ma’am.” On another day in Miami, he recalls, he walked into the police station to ask about getting a birth certificate. 00:17:31 SIDNEY POITIER: I said "sir," and I called everybody “sir,” and he called me the N-word, the guy in the thing, and he said, "Take off that hat!" And I was wearing a cap. I looked at this guy sitting up on kind of a thing at the desk — and I said, "What'd you call me?" And mind you, I'm a kid. I'm 15 years old. I said — and I just lost it. I just said, "I am Reggie Poitier." That's my father's name. "That's my dad, and his name is Reginald, and my mother's name is so-and-so, and they named me Sidney. That’s my name." 00:18:17 Well, the cops, there were several in the place, and they looked at me as if I were insane. Oh, God! Now had I been born and raised in Florida, I would have a different approach. 00:18:34 ALICE WINKLER: Poitier knew he had to get out of Florida quickly. 00:18:38 He headed to New York, hopping freight trains, traveling by his wits, and he wound up temporarily at a summer resort in the mountains of Georgia working as a dishwasher. By the end of the summer, he’d saved 39 dollars. When Sidney Poitier told this story to journalist Gail Eichenthal in 2009, he was 82 years old, but he remembered that figure exactly. Thirty-nine dollars. He had saved every possible penny for New York. 00:19:10 But by the time he made it to the big city and got off the bus, all but the money in his pocket had been stolen. Undeterred, he headed straight up to 116th Street to see Harlem, which he’d heard so much about, wowed by the buildings and the miracle of an underground train. He soon got another job as a dishwasher and started scraping by. 00:19:34 SIDNEY POITIER: I was not looking to be an actor. I was not looking for opportunities. I was not — I had absolutely no interest at all in being an actor. I was a dishwasher. I was, at that point, content to be a dishwasher because I felt and understood and embraced the fact that I did not have the wherewithal to do much else. 00:19:59 ALICE WINKLER: But even as a dishwasher, he knew he needed additional skills to navigate the world. 00:20:04 SIDNEY POITIER: One of the preparations I decided was essential to my survival was, I had to learn to read. I really had to learn to read. I could read third grade level, fourth grade level. As I told you, I left school at the age of 12-and-a-half. I then decided that I have to learn to read well, but I went about that process. The reason was, I realized that in New York there were many streets. Some were numbered, but not all. Some were named. 00:20:37 And three syllables — I had great problems with pronouncing three syllables, and every word that had three, four syllables in it, it staggered me; I mean it just defeated me. So I decided that I had to learn to read better because all of the information necessary for my survival came to me — would come to me in words, and if I didn’t understand the words, I wouldn’t know the message. 00:21:07 And if I didn’t know the message, no one would have time for me. So that’s what I did. I tried to learn to read. But anyway, the acting came totally as an accident. I was looking for a dishwashing job, and I could find a dishwashing job in a paper. There's an African American paper called the Amsterdam News. 00:21:29 ALICE WINKLER: But on that particular day, Sidney Poitier saw no ads for dishwashers. 00:21:34 SIDNEY POITIER: I was about to fold it up and put it into the street bin — you know, the trash bin on the streets. And something caught my eye, and what caught my eye was a phrase. It said, "Actors wanted." Well, on the want-ad page it said, "Dishwashers wanted," and "This wanted," and, "Porters wanted." 00:22:02 And I figured, "Well, I can even manage some of those jobs, but what is this actor’s job? That doesn’t sound like it’s too bad.” So — “And they’re inviting me because they say ‘Actors wanted.’" So I decided — and there was an address there in the article. So I went, and I was just ten blocks away. 00:22:25 ALICE WINKLER: It turned out to be the American Negro Theatre, located in the basement of the Harlem branch of the New York Public Library. 00:22:33 SIDNEY POITIER: And a guy opened the door. He’s a massive, massive guy. I mean, huge guy. I went in, and he said, "Where have you acted before?" I said, "Florida," and he said, "Yeah?" He said, "You acted in Florida?" I said, "Yeah." "Okay, here is this script. Turn to page 28. Read this scene. It’s a page-and-a-half." He says, "You ready?" I said, "Yeah," and I stepped up on the little stage. 00:23:03 He said, "Okay, you — " he said, "you start," and I said, "Okay." I started the line, my line, and now I’m reading like I read when I was in school. "When. Are. You. Going. To. Be. At." Well, he came up on the stage, and he snatched that book out of my hand, and he said — he spun me around. He grabbed me here, and here, and he’s marching me to the door. 00:23:43 And he’s saying, "Get out of here and stop wasting people’s time." He said, "You can’t read. You can hardly talk." I had this accent, you know. And he says, "Why don’t you just go out and get yourself a job as a dishwasher," he said. And he's marching me to the door. He’s got my collar back here, and my belt back here, and he is just — and he's really pissed. He opened the door, pushed me out, slammed the door. 00:24:13 Now I'm walking down the street. Halfway in the block, between Lennox Avenue and 7th Avenue, I stopped dead, and I said to myself, "How did he know that I was a dishwasher?” He suspected. I didn’t tell him that. I didn't say anything. And I realized then and there that what he said was his perception of my worth. 00:24:45 He perceived me to be of no value beyond something that I could do with my hands, and, while he was correct in his anger to characterize me that way, I was offended. I was offended deeply, and I said to myself, "I have to rectify that. I have to show him that he was wrong about me." 00:25:25 I decided then and there that I was — now this is a wild decision I made, of course, but I did decide then, at that moment, on that street, that I am going to be an actor, just to show him that he was wrong about me. 00:25:42 ALICE WINKLER: Well, now Sidney Poitier was really motivated to learn to read, no longer just to navigate the street signs, but to audition and memorize scripts. The first place he turned to begin his self-education was newspapers. Soon enough, he said, a relative stranger came to his aid and changed his life. 00:26:06 SIDNEY POITIER: I was a dishwasher, and he was a waiter in Queens, New York, and I used to buy the local newspapers and — sometimes the Journal American, sometimes The New York Times, Daily News. At the end of the evening, when the waiters are done and the place is just about closing, the waiters would sit at a table, and they would have tea, coffee, or a late snack, which was permissible by the owner. 00:26:42 I would sit in the dining room, next door to the kitchen, and I would sit there because everything else is done and all the dishes are done, except those that the waiters are using for their snacks, you see. So I sit there, and I’m reading one of the papers. 00:27:02 And there was a Jewish waiter sitting at the table, elderly man, and he saw me there. He got up, and he walked over, and he stood by the table that’s next to the kitchen, and he said, "Hi. What's new in the papers?" And I said to him, "I can’t tell you what’s new in the papers because I don’t read very well. I didn’t have very much of an education, so I can’t tell you what’s — " 00:27:36 He said, "Ah," he said, "Well, would you like me to read with you?" And I accepted. I said, "Sure, I’d like that." Every night after that he would come over and sit with me, and he would teach me what a comma is and why it exists, what periods are, what colons are, what dashes are. 00:28:11 He would teach me that there are syllables and how to differentiate them in a single word, and consequently, learn how to pronounce them. Every night. One of my great regrets in life is that I went on to be a very successful actor, and one day I tried to find him, but it was too late, and I regret that I never had the opportunity to really thank him. 00:28:48 ALICE WINKLER: In addition to learning how to read, Poitier knew he would need to lose his Caribbean accent if he wanted to make it as an actor in America. He started imitating the people he heard on the radio. When he felt he’d improved enough, he returned to the American Negro Theatre to audition for their school, hoping he wouldn’t be recognized from the last fiasco. Still, there was one glitch. 00:29:14 SIDNEY POITIER: I didn’t know where I would get a scene from. I didn't know that there were places you could go and buy little books of plays, and you could take a scene and study that and then show it — use it as an audition. So what I did was I bought a True Confessions magazine. 00:29:33 True Confessions magazines were for ladies, but they said all I needed was to — so I selected two paragraphs out of such a story. I memorized it best I could, and I was going to use it as a thing. The words that I didn’t quite understand, I would learn about them. I would ask certain people that I got to know. 00:30:02 So I understood what the words were. Mind you, my accent is still pretty poor. Long story short, I went in and I auditioned for them, and they said, "Thank you." They said, "We’ll let you know," and the note came that I wasn’t selected. I was crestfallen. So I couldn’t give it up, so I went back to them. 00:30:30 I walked in, and there was a lady at the — kind of, like, the desk, and I said, "I took an audition the other day, and I wasn’t accepted." I said, "However, I’m here today to ask if this is a possibility," and she said, "What?" I said, "I noticed that you don’t have a janitor. I will do the janitor work for you in exchange for you letting me study here." 00:31:02 And she looked at me in a peculiar way. She said, "You would do that?" 00:31:06 ALICE WINKLER: He would, and he did, but the classes didn’t help. He was showing little promise as an actor and was asked to leave. His classmates had grown to like him, though, and they banded together to make an appeal on his behalf. It worked. The school agreed to let him be an understudy for a part in an upcoming production. 00:31:28 What happened next is cliché, that classic story where the understudy gets his big break when the big-name guy doesn’t show. Sidney Poitier’s version is no different really. In his case, though, the guy he was understudy for was Harry Belafonte. 00:31:46 SIDNEY POITIER: I went on. I played the part. I knew all the words. I had my accent, you know, and I did the best I could. There was a guy in the audience who had directed that play before and had been invited by the lady who directed us at the theater, and she had asked him to come and take a look at it to see what she had done with it. And the guy came, but he came on a night when Harry Belafonte, the star, wasn't going to be there. 00:32:17 ALICE WINKLER: That guy invited Sidney Poitier to his office the following Monday and asked him to read for a part in an all-black version of the ancient Greek comedy Lysistrata by Aristophanes. This was in 1946. Poitier was 19. 00:32:34 SIDNEY POITIER: Lysistrata was my first job on Broadway. First, first job, professionally. I was petrified. I was petrified. I knew there were 1,200 people out in the audience waiting for me to walk out on that stage, and I only had a very small part. On my way to the stage, they said, "Places," which means, “Everybody, get ready. The curtain's going to go up.” But I had seen everybody in the play — not everybody, most of the guys in the play — going to a little peephole and looking out in the direction of the audience. 00:33:13 And I was so interested in what they were looking at, I went and I took a look, and I saw 1,200 people sitting, looking at the stage, which, the curtain hadn't gone up, and I got so petrified. Then the curtain went up, and the play opened with me running out on the stage and saying, "So-and-so-and-so-and-so-and-so-and-and-so — " and they asked me, "Well, wa-da-da-da — " And I say, "Blah-blah-blah-blah," and then, "Wa-wa-wa — " I got out there, and I couldn’t remember one word. 00:33:53 I got a — no, I got several splendid reviews because I got out there and I mixed up the dialogue. I was so frightened, I was so petrified that my — I started it, but instead of starting with my first line, I started with my seventh or eighth line, and the guy who was supposed to answer me, his eyes went boing! But the audience is laughing because they don’t — those who didn’t know the play thought that that was the play. 00:34:23 And they — well, I messed up the scene, but they — the other actors — because I didn’t come back on the stage anymore after I walked off — the other actors kind of righted the boat for them, and the play went on. Well, the critics said — several of them said, "Who was this kid who walked out there and opened this play? He was full of humor, and so-and-so-and-so-and-so-and-so — " 00:34:53 Truth is, I left the theater, after I came off, saying to myself, "That’s it. I tried. I am not going to be an actor. I don’t have the gift, and it’s silly for me to be this. Okay, I did it, I stuck to it, and I don’t have it." So I left, and I went walking about in New York City. And on my way home, about 11:30, 12:00 that night, I decided to pick up the newspapers, and I picked up, I guess, the Daily News, and they were — believe it or not, there were 13 major newspapers in New York City at the time. 00:35:31 Anyway, in three or four of them, I was mentioned very favorably. Well, my dear, being — well, being, being, being — I changed my mind. I wasn’t going to quit the business so quickly. 00:35:50 ALICE WINKLER: The play actually got terrible reviews overall and closed after three days. Sidney Poitier’s career as an actor was far from secure. He was getting occasional roles but was still clocking plenty of time as a dishwasher. Then he got a break, a big part in a Hollywood picture called No Way Out. It came out in 1950, three years after Jackie Robinson had broken baseball’s color bar, and two years after Truman had ordered the desegregation of the armed forces. 00:36:23 The modern Civil Rights Movement was gaining traction, and some in Hollywood sensed an opportunity for new stories. 00:36:31 RAY BIDDLE: The doctor? Him? 00:36:34 DR. LUTHER BROOKS: Lie back and lie still. You're in my charge. 00:36:38 RAY BIDDLE: I don't want him. I want a white doctor. 00:36:40 POLICE OFFICER: We’ll turn the lights out and you won't know the difference. 00:36:42 RAY BIDDLE: Haven't I got any rights? 00:36:43 POLICE OFFICER: No! 00:36:44 ALICE WINKLER: In No Way Out, Poitier plays young Dr. Luther Brooks, who works at a county hospital where he has to treat some viciously racist white patients. When he’s accused of killing one of them through malpractice, much drama ensues, including Dr. Brooks’ self-doubts and a race riot. By the end of the 1950s, Poitier had a major or leading role in 13 pictures, including Blackboard Jungle, as a teacher in a white inner-city school, and The Defiant Ones, as an escaped convict chained to fellow prisoner Tony Curtis. It’s one of my personal favorites. 00:37:25 NOAH CULLEN: I'm a strange colored man in a white-South town. How long you think before they pick me up? 00:37:29 JOHN JOKER JACKSON: Get off my back! I ain't married to you! Now what do I care? Come on! 00:37:32 NOAH CULLEN: You’re married to me, all right, Joker, and here's the ring. But I ain't going south on no honeymoon now! We’re going north. 00:37:40 ALICE WINKLER: The '60s was an even more fertile decade for Sidney Poitier. He starred in many of Hollywood’s biggest releases and was, for a time, the number one box office draw. Still, Hollywood only seemed able to accept one black leading man, and that put tremendous pressure on Poitier, he says. 00:38:02 As the Civil Rights Movement grew, the more militant dismissed him as an Uncle Tom for being palatable to whites. Poitier couldn’t control the content of the movies being made, but he could refuse roles, which he often did, and the roles he did accept, he often altered, bringing his sense of humanity and dignity to bear. 00:38:25 During this interview with journalist Gail Eichenthal for the Academy of Achievement, Poitier described how he approached scripts that came his way. He gave an example, going back to the early '50s, when he was pretty broke, married, with a second child on the way. An agent named Marty Baum asked him to audition for a part as a janitor in a movie called Phoenix City. 00:38:50 SIDNEY POITIER: He said, "And let me know what you think about the script." I said, "Fine." I went home, I read it, and I hated it. I really hated it. It was a story in which there was a janitor. I have no, and had then, no objections to playing a janitor, but this guy in this movie worked for a gambling casino. 00:39:17 He was a janitor. As a janitor in this gambling casino, a murder takes place, and the bad guys were concerned about me, the character, because they didn't — if I had seen anything, that would be trouble for them. 00:39:42 So what they did to seal my lips — I had a child, the character had a child, a little girl — they killed the girl and threw her body on the lawn of his house, and I’m playing this guy. And I went to Marty, and I said — Marty Baum, the agent. I said, "I read the script, and I can’t play it." 00:40:12 And he said, "Why can’t you play it?" I said, "I can’t play it because this is a father, and he has a child, and these guys kill the child to intimidate him, and the script permits that intimidation. So the writers feel that that’s just, for them, a plot line. You know, it’s not important to them." 00:40:40 And I said to him, I said, "I can’t play that because I have a father, and I know that my father would never be like that." I said, "As a father, I would never be able to not attack those guys." And he says, "That’s why you don’t want to do it?" I said, "That’s why I don't want to — " 00:41:04 He says, "You need money?" And I did. My second daughter was about to be born, and I needed the money. I really needed — and the money was $750 for playing this part, which was a lot of bucks. Anyway, I couldn’t do it. 00:41:21 ALICE WINKLER: He didn’t do it, and the story speaks to who Sidney Poitier was, and still is, as a person. As Poitier said succinctly, he is his father’s son. 00:41:34 SIDNEY POITIER: I left Marty’s office, and I went to 57th Street — yes, 57th Street and Broadway. There was a loan office there called something-something-Finance that you could go in and borrow money on your furniture, on your car, or whatever. I needed $75 to pay Beth Israel Hospital for the birth of my child. 00:42:08 And I had to put up my furniture, such as it was. Okay. Some months later, Martin Baum, the agent, called me up, and he said, "What are you doing?" I said, "I’m working in this restaurant." He said, "What do you do?" I said, "I’m washing dishes." He said, "Could you come down and talk to me for — I want to ask you a couple of questions." I said, "Sure." 00:42:30 I went down, and he said, "I have never been able to understand why you turned down that job for $700." I don’t know whether he understood it or not, but I think before I told him, he said to me, "I have decided that anyone as crazy as you are," he said, "I want to be their agent." 00:42:56 ALICE WINKLER: Marty Baum remained Sidney Poitier’s agent until Baum died in 2010, one year after this interview was recorded. When Poitier received his Academy Award for Lilies of the Field in 1964, Marty Baum was high on the list of people he thanked. Some of the films that followed in the '60s were: A Patch of Blue; To Sir, with Love; In the Heat of the Night; and, of course, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. 00:43:25 But it was In The Heat of the Night that Sidney Poitier turned to, to describe how his sensibilities, formed by life in the Bahamas and his experiences in Florida, changed the movies he was in, in critical ways. In the film In the Heat of the Night, Poitier plays Virgil Tibbs, a Philadelphia homicide detective who gets caught up in the investigation of a murder case in a racist Southern town. 00:43:53 GILLESPIE: This here's Virgil. 00:43:56 ENDICOTT: Mr. Tibbs. 00:43:57 VIRGIL TIBBS: How do you do, sir. 00:43:59 ENDICOTT: Oh, may I have Henry fetch you something? Some light refreshment? 00:44:02 GILLESPIE: No, thank you. We're all right the way we are. 00:44:03 VIRGIL TIBBS: Oh, I'll have something cold. Something soft. Anything. 00:44:08 SIDNEY POITIER: Well, the producers were all whites. I was one of the principal players in the movie. I know what my values were. My values are not disconnected from the values — some of the values of the black community, African American community. So I go in front of a camera with a responsibility to be at least respectful of certain values. 00:44:41 ALICE WINKLER: And when Sidney Poitier read the script, he saw that in one scene, the white suspect, a wealthy, well-positioned man in town, slaps Virgil Tibbs, and Tibbs takes it without responding. When Poitier was done reading the script, he went to talk to one of the producers, his friend Walter Meer. 00:45:02 SIDNEY POITIER: I said, "Walter, I can’t play this." The scene required me to stand there, this guy walks over to me, and he slaps me in the face, and I look at him fiercely and walk away. And I said to Walter, "You can’t do that." I said, "Let me tell you a little bit about America and the texture of American culture as it stands. That is dumb. It is not very bright." 00:45:36 I said, "We’re in the '60s” — this is 1968 or ‘7 — “You can’t do that. The black community will look at that and say, 'That is egregious,' because the human responses that would be natural in that circumstance, we are suppressing them to serve values of greed on the part of Hollywood, acquiescence on the part of people culturally who would accept that as the proper approach." 00:46:21 I said, "You can’t do it." I said, "You certainly won’t do it with me. If you want me to do this, not only will I not do it, but I will insist that I respond to this man precisely as a human being would ordinarily respond to this man, and he pops me, and I’ll pop him right back." 00:46:43 And I said, "If you want me to play it, you will put that in writing, and in writing you will also say that if this picture plays the South, that that scene is never, ever removed," and Walter, being the kind of guy that he was, he said, "Yeah," he said, "I promise you that, and I’ll give it to you in writing." 00:47:12 I ultimately didn’t take it in writing. I just took a handshake because he’s the kind of a guy, his handshake and his signature are one in the same, and that made the movie. Without it, the movie would not have done as well as it did. 00:47:28 VIRGIL TIBBS: Was Mr. Colbert ever in this greenhouse, say, last night about midnight? 00:47:33 MR. ENDICOTT: (SLAPS VIRGIL TIBBS) 00:47:34 VIRGIL TIBBS: (SLAPS MR. ENDICOTT) 00:47:37 MR. ENDICOTT: Gillespie? 00:47:38 OFFICER GILLESPIE: Yeah? 00:47:41 MR. ENDICOTT: You saw it. 00:47:42 OFFICER GILLESPIE: I saw it. 00:47:44 ALICE WINKLER: It was, as the film’s director, Norman Jewison, called it, the slap heard around the world. Sidney Poitier didn’t set out to make a political statement with his work or change the world, but he did both by staying true to his values as a human being. And his authenticity, whether on stage or on screen, are what made him one of the most successful and beloved actors of all time. 00:48:12 SIDNEY POITIER: Every person who goes into a theater, they enter a movie house, or they enter a theater with a stage, and they sit there with other people. It's a darkened room. Their attention is on what’s going on up there. They have five senses that are the tools they bring into the theater, so their five senses are working. 00:48:42 And they have been working pretty much since they were tots. So everything that happens on that stage, everything that happens on that screen, they can pass a judgment subconsciously as to whether we are hitting the marks or not, because there isn’t a person that sits in a movie house of any maturity who hasn’t been disappointed, who hasn’t been exhilarated, who hasn’t felt fear, who hasn’t felt joy. 00:49:19 So that when they sit in that theater, they are — that's all they bring in. That's the scoreboard they bring in, and they sit there, and they watch actors playing at fear, embarrassment, love, hate, all of the emotions in life. That’s what they bring in. So when they sit there and they're looking at actors doing that, they cotton to those actors that make that connection, make that connection with them. 00:49:53 And that’s the actor’s job. It’s not their job. All they do is they bring this panel of human emotions with them, and these emotions are in neutral. They are absolutely in neutral as they sit there, and one by one this really fine actress or actor begins to do things that somewhere in the consciousness of that audience, they’re saying, "Oh, boy. Yeah, I know about that. I've seen that. Wow.” 00:50:30 That’s where the admiration comes from because they can also tell when that actor or that actress is not reaching home. Does that make any sense? 00:50:43 ALICE WINKLER: We’ll end this episode with a resounding “Yes!” from one of Sidney Poitier’s biggest fans and greatest friends, Oprah Winfrey. The Queen of Talk introduced Poitier when he was inducted into the Academy of Achievement. 00:50:58 OPRAH WINFREY: I was ten years old in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with a mother on welfare who had to work two jobs, and I was left to take care of my half-sister and brother on the night Sidney Poitier won the Academy Award for Lilies of the Field. And I remember sitting on the linoleum floor with my brother and sister. 00:51:27 And I was afraid to go in the kitchen because little mice were running around the kitchen. And I remember seeing Sidney Poitier, and being stunned, and calling everybody I knew, saying, "A colored man just won!" and thinking, “If this colored man named Sidney Poitier could do that, wow, I wonder what I could do.” 00:51:56 There are turning points in history when the man and the moment meet. In a time such as that, he stepped beyond what anyone could imagine. He stepped before the camera and showed the world what dignity looks like. 00:52:19 ALICE WINKLER: This is What It Takes from the Academy of Achievement. I’m Alice Winkler. If you want to learn more about Sidney Poitier, go to achievement.org. If you want to tell your friends to learn more about Sidney Poitier, tweet them about this episode, #WhatItTakesNow. Thanks for spending time with us, and thanks to the Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation for making What It Takes possible. END OF FILE

from Voice of America http://ift.tt/2A3vEDx
via IFTTT

English @ the Movies: 'Put Your Foot Down'

This English @ the Movies phrase is "put your foot down." It comes from the funny movie "Inside Out," about a young girl and the emotions inside her head. At one point, her dad gets so mad, he ends up having to put his foot down. What does that mean? Find out.

from Voice of America http://ift.tt/2jvej0f
via IFTTT

Strong Winds Continue to Fuel California Wildfires

Firefighters continue to fight wildfires in southern California, including a new fire just north of San Diego. In the past five days, the fires have destroyed at least 500 buildings and forced 190,000 people to leave their homes, California officials said. More than 5,700 people, some in helicopters, are trying to slow the spread of six large wildfires and other smaller blazes. They are spraying and dropping water, as well as fire retardant, in the affected areas. The wildfires have been burning since Monday. They are causing destruction along the Pacific coast, from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara County, 170 kilometers to the north. The fires are powered by Santa Ana winds -- hot, dry air that blows from east to west. The biggest blaze is the Thomas Fire, about 90 kilometers northwest of Los Angeles. It is nearly 52,000 hectares in size and has destroyed about 430 buildings. However, firefighters have made enough progress against the Los Angeles area fires to cancel most evacuation orders. A new fire, named the Lilac Fire, forced California Governor Jerry Brown to declare a state of emergency for San Diego County, more than 200 kilometers south of Los Angeles. The Lilac Fire started on Thursday and grew to 16 square kilometers in a few hours. It moved through the heavily populated Rancho Monserate Country Club community and the small city of Fallbrook, home to many avocado farms and horse ranches. The fire forced people to leave their homes as it destroyed homes and burned an area near a training center for thoroughbred horses. Workers freed more than 450 horses to avoid being trapped, said Mac McBride of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club. Some horses did not survive, and one trainer said at least 30 horses died. The fire burned near Camp Pendleton, a large base for the United States Marine Corps. California state fire officials said the Santa Ana winds from the California desert and the extremely dry conditions are expected to continue until Sunday. The Los Angeles Unified School District, the U.S.’s second largest with 640,000 students, closed more than 275 schools for a second day on Friday. The University of California in Santa Barbara also closed. The fires crossed major roads and threatened small coastal communities between Ventura and Santa Barbara. Fires are common in Southern California before the winter rains begin. This year is very bad because of unusually hot, dry and windy conditions. Two weeks ago, wildfires in Northern California killed 44 people. Those fires destroyed 8,900 homes and other buildings. California’s Department of Forestry and Fire Protection reported on Tuesday that more than 400,000 hectares of land have burned this year. That number does not include the fires burning now. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story spray - v. liquid that is forced out of a container in a stream of very small drops retardant - adj. able to slow down the progress or development of something blaze - n. an intense and dangerous fire thoroughbred - n. a fast horse used mainly for racing ranch – n. a large farm for raising horses or cattle evacuation – n. the act of people being told to leave an area, usually for safety reasons

from Voice of America http://ift.tt/2Bk9b9K
via IFTTT

Let's Learn English Level 2 Lesson 11: The Big Snow

A big snow is coming. Anna has Anna and Pete have to stay at work on the weekend to report on it. Have they both prepared for the blizzard? Let's find out! See the whole lesson at http://ift.tt/2BeqKnz

from Voice of America http://ift.tt/2kciFJh
via IFTTT

Let's Learn English Level 2 Lesson 13: Save the Bees!

Last time, Anna went to visit a home beekeeper. She was nervous. Does Anna go into the hive? Or will she continue to live in fear of bees?See the whole lesson at: http://ift.tt/2A3FcOZ

from Voice of America http://ift.tt/2yP5LZZ
via IFTTT