02.14.2013

Page 1

The Ithacan Thursday, F ebrua ry 14, 20 13

NOBODY HOME

Volume 80 , Is s u e 1 8

The Ithaca Jungle is empty after decades as a home for the homeless

by noreyana fernando assistant news editor

Listen to a radio feature on the Ithaca Jungle on

The Ithaca Jungle, located off South Fulton Street near Ithaca Agway, has been home to some of the city’s homeless for at least five decades. Births, deaths and marriages have happened there. People have come and gone. But today, all of its inhabitants have roofs over their heads, and the Ithaca Jungle is empty. The tents where dozens spent many nights have collapsed under the weight of the snow. The ceramic plates are empty. The small area of land known as The Pit — where people would gather in the evenings for a drink — is now a mass of ash from the fires that once warmed the jungle inhabitants. Nailed onto a tree is a box with the words ‘Jungle Brothers’ on it. A few yards away, an American flag is pinned to the bark of a leafless tree. In the first week of December,

Newfield resident Carmen Guidi found shelter for the 10 remaining inhabitants of the Jungle. Guidi, a board member of Community Faith Partners, moved them out of the chilly Ithaca Jungle and gave them new homes, new jobs and new lives. Guidi said emptying the jungle was not his motive when he first visited the Jungle three years ago. “I just wanted to help my friends,” he said. Guidi was born in Ithaca and raised in Newfield, where he still lives. He is the owner of Guidi’s Collision Services. Guidi said he was inspired after a mission trip to Haiti and wanted to make a change in his own community. “What I saw there in Haiti, it just shook me,” he said. “It just rocked my whole world.” When he returned to Ithaca in July

See jungle, page 4

rACHEL WOOLF/THE ITHACAN

ithacan observer

Talib Kweli shakes up diversity dialogue during campus visit by taylor long senior writer

There was something special about the energy in Emerson Suites last Thursday as Talib Kweli took up the mic not to rap, as some students had expected, but to discuss the hiphop industry and the role of the artist in society. Some students arrived nearly an hour early, worried they wouldn’t be able to get a seat, only to walk into an empty Emerson Suites where they camped out with laptops, spreading scarves and jackets across seats to save places for friends. I was one of them, perched amongst a group of girls who, for the most part, knew only that Kweli was a famous rapper — easily conflated with his popular contemporary, Lupe Fiasco. As we waited, Wikipedia filled in the blanks. Evidently Talib means “student” in Arabic; Kweli Swahili for “true.” He grew up the son of professors in Park Slope, Brooklyn. In the early 2000s he gained notoriety as half of “Black Star,” along with MC Mos Def. Eventually

Rapper Talib Kweli speaks Feb. 7 to a crowd in Emerson Suites. Kweli said his favorite part of speaking is the dialogue with students that follows. rachel woolf/the ithacan

boredom gave way to the usual conversations that arise when someone famous is on their way. “What if we make friends with Talib and hang out with him all weekend?” One girl joked.

Set the scene Students build movie set on newly rented studio space, page 13

A few others sent text messages encouraging friends to come, some with more success than others. As it would turn out, cell phone autocorrect doesn’t recognize the name Talib. It wants to change it to Taliban.

But by the time Kweli arrived, a few minutes late from an interview in the WICB studios, the seats in Emerson had all but filled. Members of Brothers 4 Brothers, which was sponsoring Kweli’s visit, occupied the first two rows. Senior Ellis Williams, president of the organization, arrived with Kweli and walked down the front row doling out handshakes. “What’s up? What’s shaking? What’s up? Brothers in the house.” The event was the end-result of a two-year effort of B4B to bring a speaker to campus, aided by John Rawlins, adviser of B4B and assistant director of the Office of Student Engagement and Multicultural Affairs. Williams and co-president Nathaniel Hemingway introduced Kweli — one wore a red tie and the other a matching bowtie for the occasion. As Kweli leaped on stage, everyone cheered. “There was somebody who goes to this school who was on Twitter earlier who said, ‘It’s a damn shame that I’m going to see Kweli speak and two

thirds of the school don’t know who he is,’ he paused for effect. “… And y’all are showing me that’s bullshit.” It wasn’t, but the event did immediately stand in stark contrast to many similar events sponsored by OSEMA or Center for the Study of Culture, Race and Ethnicity — hell, most events held on Ithaca College’s campus — in that “ALANA” students and “white” students were about equal in number. Still, the real shocker was the creation of an honest dialog between the two. Something was different. Kweli didn’t shy away from the truth; he wasn’t trying to impress anyone. When the time came to ask questions, students and members of the community actually said what was on their mind. The Bronx on fire. The future of rap. Advice for the artist in a corporate world. The feasibility of being a white rapper. Being the only black student in class. The religious qualities of a black barber shop. The demonization of

See talib, page 4

Role reversal

head strong

Former players take on coaching roles for the basketball team, page 23

All athletes need to be conscious of concussion risks, page 10

f ind m or e onl ine. www.t heit hacan.org


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
02.14.2013 by The Ithacan - Issuu