OPINION
Throughs on Brooklyn’s fl ag
Today on my one-year anniversary
at Brooklyn
Paper I’d like to address a
less weighty topic than some of
my others: Brooklyn’s fl ag.
Brooklyn’s fl ag design is
quite old, dating back to about
1860 — 38 years before modern
New York City was born in the
amalgamation of different large
neighboring cities into the fi ve
boroughs.
Changing fl ags mostly happens
when the entire type of
government changes. In the
last 30 years, South Africa
changed fl ags when it became
a multi-racial democracy and
Russia’s fl ag is a very different
fl ag than what the Soviet Union
had. Probably the biggest fl ag
change occurred after the
French Revolution. The iconic
blue, white, and red tricolor has
always symbolized the French
Republic, replacing monarchist
fl ags that feature the House of
Bourbon’s gold Fleur de Lis.
But sometimes places
change their fl ags for simple
branding reasons. For instance,
New Zealand nearly changed
its fl ag recently, because its current
fl ag too closely resembles
Australia’s. Without a new fl ag,
it can be very hard for many
outsiders to tell Australia and
Australia’s Canada apart.
Brooklyn has had a number
of rebrandings in the last few
decades, because we are such a
different place than we were 50
years ago. Changing our fl ag is
a part of changing our historical
second-rate status.
It’s just a boring and diffi -
cult-to-reproduce fl ag. It’s the
seal of the borough on a white
background (the background of
the fl ag is called “the fi eld.”) I
will quote Wikipedia’s description:
“Within the seal is an image
of the Goddess of Justice
set on a background of light
blue, and bearing fasces, a traditional
emblem of unity. The
fasces is composed of six rods,
representing the six towns of
the original Dutch settlement.
Encircling that image is a ring
of dark blue and the Old Dutch
phrase ‘Een Draght Maekt
Maght’ (modern Dutch: ‘Eendracht
maakt macht’) which
translates into English as
‘Unity makes strength.’ Also in
the darker ring are the words
‘Borough of Brooklyn.’ The outside
and inside rim of the seal
are gold-colored.”
Who is the Goddess of Justice?
The fl ag honors the borough’s
Dutch heritage not
by using the handsome blue,
white, and orange of the Dutch
tricolor that forms the basis of
the city’s fl ag but instead archaic
Dutch words about unity.
Words should be used very
sparingly on fl ags. Also, nowadays,
the Roman rods called
“fasces” conjure up not legitimate
government and unity,
but, er, fascism.
What should our new fl ag
look like? I am not a graphic
designer, and have poor visual
sense. I have two suggestions,
though. First, it should include
substantially more black than
we normally see on fl ags that
aren’t the Jolly Roger. Black to
me symbolizes creative focus,
winning, and, with green, is
the symbolic color of the African
diaspora. Second, the fl ag
should include only two words,
in English: “Spread love.”
It’s the Brooklyn way.
WORDS OF
RIZZDOM
Nick Rizzo
Premature births: How we can invest
COURIER L 24 IFE, APRIL 23-29, 2021
OP-ED
BY JOHN QUAGLION
For the most part, October
19, 2011 was a typical day. It was
around 9:30 pm that evening
when things started to quickly
change for the worse. By 11:23
pm, I had become a father to a
new born baby girl weighing
just 4 pounds, 2 ounces, born
at just 32 weeks. What did the
obstetrician mean when he
spoke to me in the hallway to
make sure I understood the
baby would have to stay in the
hospital for about six weeks before
coming home? What was a
N.I.C.U.? What just happened?
October 19, 2011 was no longer
a regular day — it was a day
that changed my life. It was a
day that introduced me to preterm
labor, the fragility of babies
born to soon, and inspired
me to the fi ght for the end of
prematurity.
I consider my wife and I to
be among the lucky ones for
it was a day shy of two weeks,
not six, when we were able to
take our daughter home for the
very fi rst time. As we settled
into our new life, with a baby
girl with severe digestive issues
caused by underdevelopment,
we were introduced to
the March of Dimes and their
goal of ending prematurity.
After our frightful experience
with our daughter, it became
our mission as well.
On Sunday, April 25, 2021,
my family will be participating
in our ninth March for Babies
in support of the March
of Dimes, and their research
to help end prematurity. This
year, due to the coronavirus
pandemic, family teams such
as mine will be marching in
neighborhoods throughout the
New York, and New Jersey,
area in small groups.
According to the March
of Dimes Report Card, for the
fourth consecutive year, the
United States’ preterm birth
rate has increased. The reality
that one in 10 babies born
in the United States is born
early is unacceptable to us and
should be to you as well. Why is
the number so high and what is
being done to change the trajectory
of these statistics?
The federal government,
along with individual states,
must work to address this public
health crisis impacting families
throughout the United
States. We must step up our
game in our pursuit of healthier
moms and babies, for with
every passing day, we are losing
too much.
There are three ways in
which we can stand up to prematurity.
First, we need to increase
funding for research
awarded by the federal government.
While the March of
Dimes funds research centers,
the federal budget must contribute
more substantially. In
the Fiscal Year 2020 federal
budget, there was no funding
awarded for prematurity research.
This must change and
your help is needed to make
this happen. Take some time to
make your voice heard and contact
your member of Congress
and your two United States
Senators. Ask them for their
support to give babies a chance
at a healthier start to life.
Secondly, at the national
and at the state level, we must
work to improve access to
healthcare for moms and babies.
We need to make sure that
pregnant moms of all races and
economic status do not hold
back from doctor visits for fear
of cost. A greater ability for expectant
mothers to receive the
appropriate medical care, including
high risk specialists,
will lead to healthier babies being
born. And that health care
access must carry through to
the newborn baby.
Finally, we need to improve
health education for expectant
mothers. We need to work with
families during pregnancy to
remind them of the dangerous
connection between tobacco,
substance abuse, and preterm
birth. This outreach can also
play a role in reducing the number
of babies born too soon.
The time is now to turn
these numbers around. The
time is now for you to join in
advocating for health care access,
additional funding for research
to end prematurity, and
to support efforts to educate expectant
mothers of how in their
personal care, they can give
their child a better start at life.
Until we eliminate premature
births, there will be many
more typical days that change
quickly for expectant parents.
With each of the babies born
unexpectedly on days like this,
there is a great risk, and their
fi rst stop on life’s journey becomes
an incubator in the
in and change the US trend