34 The QUEE NS Courier • DECEMBER 25, 2014 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com editorial letters IDENTIFY THIS PLACE Go to www.queenscourier.com and search “Identify This Place” to find out where this is THE QUEENS Victoria Schneps-Yunis Joshua A. Schneps Bob Brennan Tom Topousis Amy Amato-Sanchez Nirmal Singh Graziella Zerilli Stephen Reina Ron Torina, Jennifer Decio, Cheryl Gallagher Liam La Guerre, Cristabelle Tumola, Angy Altamirano Katrina Medoff, Eric Jankiewicz, Salvatore Licata Cliff Kasden, Samantha Sohmer, Elizabeth Aloni Cristabelle Tumola Demetra Plagakis Louise Cavaliere Celeste Alamin Maria Valencia Daphne Fortunate Victoria Schneps-Yunis Joshua A. Schneps Publisher & E ditor Co-Publisher Associate Publisher Editor-In-Chief VP, Events, Web & Social Media Art Director Assistant to Publisher Assistant Art Director Artists Staff Reporters Contributing Reporters Web Editor Events Manager Senior Acc ount Executive Classified Manager Controller Office Manager President & CEO Vice President Schneps Communications, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361 718-224-5863 • Fax 718-224-5441 www.queenscourier.com editorial e-mail: [email protected] for advertising e-mail: [email protected] Entire Contents Copyright 2014 by The Queens Courier All letters sent to THE QUEENS COURIER should be brief and are subject to condensing. Writers should include a full address and home and office telephone numbers, where available, as well as affiliation, indicating special interest. Anonymous letters are not printed. Name withheld on request. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, AS WELL AS OP-ED PIECES IN NO WAY REFLECT THE PAPER’S POSITION. No such ad or any part thereof may be reproduced without prior permission of THE QUEENS COURIER. The publishers will not be responsible for any error in advertising beyond the cost of the space occupied by the error. Errors must be reported to THE QUEENS COURIER within five days of publication. Ad position cannot be guaranteed unless paid prior to publication. Schneps Communications assumes no liability for the content or reply to any ads. The advertiser assumes all liability for the content of and all replies. The advertiser agrees to hold The Quens Courier and its employees harmless from all cost, expenses, liabilities, and damages resulting from or caused by the publication or recording placed by the advertiser or any reply to any such advertisement. A NEW CHAPTER With the release of that American who was being held by the Cuban government, hopefully a new chapter can be established in bilateral relations between the U.S. and Cuba. For over 50 years, there has been a trade embargo with Cuba, and this did not really accomplish anything. While our two nations have divergent systems of government, one Communist, the other democratic, there are areas of convergence that our two countries can work on, and should work on. The reestablishment of diplomatic relations, reopening of embassies and exchange of ambassadors will certainly be a positive and necessary step in the right direction. Let us hope that a more harmonious and less acrimonious situation will develop between the U.S. and Cuba. John Amato Fresh Meadows A CHRISTMAS BLESSING President Obama has just issued an executive order to move toward establishing diplomatic relations between both countries. It’s been 50 years and the time has come for this normalization to take place. It will be good economically for both countries. Since the embargo, the U.S. has lost $1.2 billion a year and Cuba has lost $1.1 trillion. Let me also point out we have done this for China and Vietnam, which we were actually at war with and where we lost thousands of lives. Pope Francis with leaders of Latin America and Europe have praised this action. Let me also point out that not having normalization of relations with Cuba does nothing to help the Cuban people. This action enables release of political prisoners from both countries and hopefully those who committed crimes against America will be returned for prosecution. I would also like to praise Pope Francis as was reported with his direct involvement in this historic decision. There are those who opposed this action but hopefully with renewed relations this might mean more freedom for the Cuban people. In the end this could be a true Christmas blessing for the Cuban people. Frederick R. Bedell Jr. Glen Oaks Village IN DEFENSE OF DOO-WOP After attending a “doo-wop” concert featuring artists of the ‘50s and ‘60s, I was reminded of a caller to the Michael Savage radio show “The Savage Nation” who took issue with his playing of some classic “songs of the ‘50s” because he thought they represented an era of repression and segregation. I was a student at the High School of Music and Art in the late ‘50s. Each morning as I entered the auditorium to wait for classes to begin, I could here the strains of doo-wop in every corner. It was here that the “new sounds” were created and experimented with by students both black and white. One of my classmates wrote several hits for Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers and had a successful career of his own. It was during that era that the musical creativity of many blacks was recognized and rewarded, and provided myriad opportunities for both blacks and whites. The doo-wop sounds couldn’t be categorized or easily identified as “black” or “white.” It was poetry celebrating the joys of love and life accompanied by lyrical melodies and sung by harmonious voices full of hope and aspirations. By contrast, the pop culture of today features “rap music,” an oxymoron by any standards, which almost exclusively celebrates the “black” experience and is often full of expressions of hate and depictions of violence, not to mention dirty words. If anything can be said about the music of the ‘50s, it is that it did not oppress but offered freedom of expression, created opportunities, and most importantly, uplifted and celebrated the simple joys of life that bind us together as human beings. If author William Congreve’s proclamation that “music has charms to sooth a savage breast, to soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak” is correct, then it would behoove us all to attend more doo-wop concerts. Ed Konecnik Flushing VISIT QueensCourier.com FOR MORE STORIES MOURNING THE LOSS OF TWO POLICE OFFICERS The holiday joy that sweeps across this city in celebrations and magnificent displays of light was horrifically shattered over the weekend by the assassinations of two police officers in Brooklyn by a mentally ill man who got his hands on a firearm. It would be a continuing tragedy to try to use this horrific event for political advantage by either side in the debate over alleged police misconduct. And it’s high time for some demonstrators to curb their chants of violence toward the police. Across Queens this week, candlelight vigils were being held to honor Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, truly two of New York’s Finest, who were doing their part to make the city a safer place when they were shot dead while on duty by a deranged man out to kill police. The shooting is one more example of the dire need to address the issue of mental illness and access to firearms. The vigils, we hope, will be a place to mourn the loss of two police officers, to remember their families and to pray for the safety of their colleagues and those they are sworn to protect. Mayor de Blasio wisely called for a suspension of demonstrations that have been a daily occurrence since a grand jury declined to indict an NYPD officer earlier this month in the death of Eric Garner on Staten Island. “It’s time for everyone to put aside political debates, put aside protests, put aside all of the things that we will talk about in due time,” de Blasio said in a speech to the Police Athletic League on Dec. 22. “That can be for another day.” And we agree with Queens DA Richard Brown, who said the best way to mourn the loss of Ramos and Liu is by working for positive change. “We must come together to heal each other, to recognize our common humanity and to build a city that is stronger and more united than ever,” Brown said. Creating a city that is ever safer, where people can expect and receive equal treatment under the law, and where the mentally ill can get the treatment they need, would be one way we could honor our two fallen officers.
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