. Once you’re out…you’re out.”In a recent brief conversa-tion she insisted that “Casteis still very much alive andwell here” whatever peoplesay. A project of hers willpublish a report in mid-September on the Dalit dias-pora in America.
In January this yearSoundararajan joined theWomen’s March onWashington held the dayafter Donald Trump’s inau-guration. In a blog after theevent she wrote that she hadmarched to honor Dalitwomen lost to caste-basedviolence in India — and tocriticize publicly the 2016election results “becauseTrump’s relationship withModi will only make all thisviolence and social inequityworse.”In the Washington area, ascientist in the field of bioinformatics, who had donepostgraduate work at a majorAmerican university, hasgiven a lot of thought to howDalit life in America shouldbe reported. She has doubtsabout the anecdotalapproach taken by the mediain the U.S., which highlightpersonal discrimination caseswhile overlooking “the mas-sacre of a whole village inIndia.”She added that all Indiansin the U.S. should learn thatthe caste system cannot workhere, where there areresources and laws allowinganyone to report discrimina-tion. “That’s a great feeling,an experience we can onlydream of in India,” she said,adding that in India evenresponses from social servic-es depend on your caste.“U.S. society is not orderedthat way.”“You don’t have to be aDalit all the time inAmerica,” she said, “only inthe presence of otherIndians.”
Barbara Crossette was formerly
the New York Times chief
correspondent in Southeast Asia
and South Asia, and the paper’s
UN bureau chief from 1994 to 2001.
The Dalit American Revolution
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Dinesh D’Souza
Click to subscribe to this magazineGeorge died unexpectedly on October 5, 2006, the day before Fall Festival. He was 55 years old. George was known as a fine mandolin and guitar player who loved to play music and sing with friends. He performed occasionally at the Minstrel's Open Stage, and was often tapped as a "ringer" to play mandolin in the Birthday Show. George loved old-time, bluegrass, swing, jazz, fiddle, and gospel music. His favorite tune was "Pig Ankle Rag," he and always led "Swing Low Sweet Chariot" when it was his turn at the Festival Gospel Sing. George had attended Western and Swing Week at Ashokan Fiddle & Dance Camps for many years. He was also a member of the "Rum & Onions" orchestra which played for the annual Halloween Dance sponsored by the Princeton Country Dancers. George loved to dress up as Minnie Pearl for his Halloween costume, and on one memorable occasion "Minnie" was MC at the Minstrel Coffeehouse.
George was a quiet guy but touched many hearts with his kindness and good humor. In addition to his musical interests, he was an avid spectator of collegiate wrestling, routing for Lehigh University, his alma mater. He was also interested in SCCA amateur car racing, and a loved fishing. He worked as a software engineer in the fragrance industry.DERBY -- Gunfire has once again shattered the tranquility of one city neighborhood, and this time it resulted in a death.
About 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Rodney Trent Baldwin, 25, of Hawthorne Avenue, was shot twice in the head in a drive-by shooting on Seventh Street at the intersection of Hawthorne Avenue, right across from the Oak Cliff Cemetery. He died at the scene.
Police have not released any details about the shooting, but neighbors said Baldwin was with two others walking to a neighborhood store when a car pulled up and someone inside the vehicle opened fire. There were as many as six shots fired, neighbors said, but only Baldwin was hit by the gunfire.
"They were out to get him," said Angela Baldino, who lives down the street on Hawthorne Avenue. "Somebody wanted him dead."
Baldwin's death comes only three days after he was arrested in Bridgeport on drug charges. On Monday, State Police arrested Baldwin on charges of operating a drug factory, sale of illegal drugs and possession of drug paraphernalia.
According to state police, Baldwin was stopped on Route 8 by exit 2 for not wearing a seat belt. It was discovered that his driver's license was suspended, police said, and when the officer searched the vehicle he found "evidence of drug possession," prompting him to call in a K-9 from the Bridgeport Narcotics Division. The police dog found more than 30 grams of crack cocaine hidden in the car, according to state police.
Baldwin was released after posting $50,000 bond and was due to appear in Bridgeport Superior Court Sept. 15.
Police blocked off both Seventh Street and Hawthorne Avenue around the crime scene while they investigated. Officers from both Ansonia and Shelton were called in to help, as well as the State Police Major Crime Squad.
An ambulance sat at the scene for hours, apparently waiting for the medical examiner, and neighbors said Baldwin's body was put into it shortly after it arrived.
Teen with marijuana arrested in New Fairfield High School...
Baldwin lived on Hawthorne Avenue with either his girlfriend or wife, neighbors said, and had only lived there for several months.
"I heard shots -- boom, boom, boom," said one man who didn't want to give his name. "It's a shame."
"It's really surprising," Baldino said. "Things like that don't happen here -- maybe on Anson Street but not here." The neighborhood is full of children who play freely outside, she said.
"There's a bus stop right there," she said, gesturing toward the spot where Baldwin was killed.
"Thank God there weren't any kids outside waiting for the bus."
"I've been here three years, and there's never been anything happen this close," Baldino's stepmother Ellen Baldino said. "You read about it in the newspaper and see it in the news, but never think it will happen here on your doorstep." She has four children under age 4, Ellen Baldino said, and she will now think twice before letting them play outside.
"I let my 3-year-old come outside with our neighbor's children, who are 10 and 13 -- they sit on the steps and color and walk on the street all the time," she said, "but not after today."
Two weeks ago, three men in a white Ford Crown Victoria struck a GMC SUV at the corner of Chapel and Elm streets off Route 34, and one of the men in the Ford got out and shot the GMC driver.
The victim, Kierron Stanley, 34, of Ansonia, was hospitalized but survived. After a search of the area, police arrested Robert Smith, 28, of Lester Street, Ansonia; Stephen Cook, 28, of Carlson Street, New Britain, and Daycus Bailey, 26, of Olson Drive, Ansonia, who are all charged with attempted murder and being held on bonds ranging from $500,000 to $1 million.
Mayor Anthony Staffieri said until recently the Derby Police Department was operating under full staffing. Three officers recently completed training and the force is now up to full strength, he said, which means officers will be able to concentrate on problem areas more.
"We have just completed finally bringing the police force up to full strength, so we will have more patrols in those areas," he said. "That is all we can do -- put the pressure on these areas and weed out the wrong type of elements that have filtered into our city." In the past, the police department has been allowed to operate without all the officers it needed, Staffieri said, and it was his priority to correct that.
"This is the reason why you need a fully funded police department to cover these areas," he said.
The man who is hoping to replace Staffieri after November's election said that one should not judge the whole city by the acts of people who are mostly from out of town.
"This shooting should not be a reflection on the citizens of Derby," Democratic mayoral candidate Dan Foley said.
"The first shooting [on Chapel and Elm streets] could have happened anywhere," he said. "Unfortunately, this shooting deals with quality of life issues."
The city is surrounded by a triangle made up of New Haven, Waterbury and Bridgeport, he said, and that is trickling down to the suburbs.
"Unfortunately we are getting unsavory characters that don't live in Derby," he said.
The police department should utilize things such as supernumerary officers, he said, such as the ones the Board of Aldermen recently decided to reduce.
"I believe it was a mistake to get rid of the supernumeraries," he said, "and the administration realizes that because now they're trying to get them back.
"We have an excellent police department," Foley said. "I think we may need to look at how we deploy the police patrols in these areas."How are Sildenaf