PROTEST IN CENTURY CITY

(This article originally appeared in the September 7, 2010 edition of the Century City News)

I FOUND THE OUTRAGE AT THE JUSTICE FOR JANITORS PROTEST

By Michael Douglas Carlin

I have been asking for a very long time, “Where is the outrage?” A sitting President of the United States lies under oath… where is the outrage? A sitting President of the United States is murdered in broad daylight… where is the outrage? Civil Rights leaders are murdered… where is the outrage? Genocides are committed around the world… where is the outrage? The Earth is abused… where is the outrage? Jobs are shipped overseas… where is the outrage? Entire industries are shipped overseas to circumvent the Environmental laws of this country… where is the outrage? Pat Tillman is murdered by his own men… where is the outrage? The military covers up the truth of Tillman’s death… where is the outrage? Terrorists hold our civil liberties hostage… where is the outrage? Men who served this country in the military were disrespected upon their return… where is the outrage?

The proletariat bourgeois struggle turns another page intersecting with the history of Century City. I have been looking for some time now to find the outrage and I have finally found it.

In France, this might have come at the hand of the guillotine, in Germany and Cambodia bullets were used, Rwanda and Darfur used machetes… but here in America there were meetings, there was legwork, there was preparation, negotiations, planning, scheduling, press releases, t-shirts, signs, and oh, yes, there were arrests… I counted ten but am told there were thirteen.

I spend most of my days in Century City. I saw a couple of Police Cruisers that alerted me that something was up. I met the officers in one of the businesses where they were talking to the staff and alerting them as to what was coming down. They had been walking from building to building and alerting the building managers and prominent businesses about a scheduled protest. The two officers wore their uniforms well and they were well mannered. They worked hard to alert local businesses so that security could be added and unnecessary personnel cleared out.

The preparation was done to ensure public safety. The police were not the only ones making preparations. The Union was also making their preparations as were many others throughout the city. It was determined ahead of time that there would be arrests. Civil disobedience is an accepted form of protest in America. The script was written and each side performed their roles to perfection as if this was a Hollywood movie.

The protesters began marching up Avenue of the Stars as planned. Nobody could have scripted what happened next. Every single one of the Century Plaza Hotel workers marched in single file out of the hotel in support of their fellow workers. They lined the street in front of the hotel and began chanting in solidarity. The crowd cheered...

The issues are never simple. JP Morgan Chase owns the Century Plaza Towers and 2000 Avenue of the Stars. The property is managed by CB Richard Ellis and they have contracted ABM to supply the Janitors that are part of SEIU Local 1877. Tenants have moved out of this prestigious space due to a lag in the economy. Every company right now is examining their cost structure and ABM and CB Richard Ellis decided to cut 16 janitors from their expenses. The 29 janitors that were left walked out in protest and as a result were suspended.

But anybody that thinks this is about 16 janitors, or about ABM or about CB Richard Ellis or about Century City doesn’t really understand America. This isn’t about a bunch of space that isn’t leased and doesn’t need to be cleaned. This is about a bank bailout two years ago. This is anger about unfathomable sums of money being given to companies that were determined to be too big to fail. This is about banks that don’t care about their customers. This is about foreclosures in the wake of those massive bailouts. This is about the promise of America that one of the incredible men at ABM represents. Not too long ago he was the little guy cleaning offices and now he is management. Aaron Cohen and Carey Doss from ABM are now embroiled in a shit-storm that has absolutely nothing to do with them. Yet they find themselves front and center of controversy where other good men and women have stood up and said, “Enough!”

Neither side has the ability to fix what is wrong with America. Neither side is fully right and neither side is fully wrong. The negotiations will not bring satisfaction to either side but we have to look at the process in awe of this great country. We have to look in awe at the democratic process in action. We have to look in awe at the tremendous job done by the Mayor of Los Angeles and the Police Department to keep the fever pitch in check and keep the emotions under control.

I saw the outrage today and I know that humanity may be in trouble but we are going to right what is wrong. I saw American Patriots today on both sides of this important issue choosing peace.
In other parts of the world you hear the mob and it is too late. Here we settle our disputes in courts of law. Here we have protests that are orderly.

Justice For Janitors Protested in Century City. God Bless America for allowing a peaceful demonstration and God Bless the demonstrators, media, police, building managers and security personnel for allowing our American System to function by granting the sacred right to peacefully protest. America may have a myriad of problems but the solution lies in talking about those problems and negotiating resolutions.





Reflections On Century City Protest

by Michael Douglas Carlin

Was it Mayan? Was it Incan? Was it Aztec? It was a ritual… a spiritual ritual. Civil disobedience is a rite of passage for any activist. The arrests were made with dignity. They were made with respect. The police were there doing their job. They didn’t want to be called out into the heat – in full riot gear. They were there protecting the population from a threat. I never once saw a police officer with his or her hand on their gun. I never saw that salivation to escalate things into violence. I witnessed a true measured response. I witnessed activism. I witnessed people who moved the discussion forward by saying, “Wait! This is important. This is something that defines our community. This is something we don’t agree with.”

They gathered in Roxbury Park to make a statement. They marched up and down Avenue of the Stars and chanted in unison so that our community would stop and take note. I heard someone complaining that the permit never should have been granted. All of that traffic stopped… all of those businesses closed down. But what about the people marching and making the statement? They were taking time from their lives. They were making a sacrifice to be here making that statement. They were exercising their right... granted to them as citizens.

In Israel/Palestine the marchers would have been throwing rocks at the police and the police would have been firing rubber bullets or worse. What would have happened in South Africa? Belfast? Serbia? Afghanistan? Sri Lanka? Or Russia? No, granting the permit was the right thing to do. Sacrifices are made on every side of an argument… to keep peace. Marching was the right thing to do. Shooting video and broadcasting was the right thing to do. Taking photos and writing columns was the right thing to do. Civil disobedience was the right thing to do. Now negotiations are the right thing to do. Problem solving is the right thing to do. Working through Mayors, Councilmen, Assemblymen and Senators is the right thing to do. Working in the best interests of citizens is the right thing to do.

The demonstration gathered in the intersection of Constellation and Avenue of the Stars and the protestors marched around in a big circle. A number of protestors sat in a small circle at the center of the intersection. One woman was wearing all white… like the sacrificial lamb of old only this time not a single drop of blood was shed. Her sacrifice was made with dignity and respect. The police moved in and declared this an unlawful assembly. The words were drowned out by the chanting even though they came over a loud speaker. The protestors, that numbered in the many hundreds and may have been even a thousand or more continued their protest but they gave a little ground. The Police took a little ground and an ebb and flow of a dance began. Soon all of the protestors save the sacrificial lambs were on their way back to their lives.

Each of the civilly disobedient was extended the dignity and respect they offered by the civilly servant LAPD. They were read their rights. Their hands were cuffed behind them. They were patted down and their belongings were put into zip-lock bags. They were moved into awaiting vans for transportation to their next phase of their sacrifice. This was a beautiful dance on every side. It was activism. It was outrage – civil outrage. It was the restoration of faith in change. It was the restoration of faith in humanity. It was a spiritual ritual granted by ink on five sheets of paper called the Constitution. America gets criticized for our lack of culture. This was culture’s finest hour.

©2010 Michael Douglas Carlin. All Rights Reserved.

FREE BLUE SHOT WITH A CHASE - ER

(This article originally appeared on August 10, 2010 in the Century City News)

by Michael Douglas Carlin

There is an arrogance in a bank that gets $25 billion dollars in TARP Funds and then spends $138 million to purchase two corporate jets and a hanger to house them. That arrogance starts at the top and can flow straight down to the branch manager. In fact, an incident inside the CHASE branch in Century City had a customer escorted out of the bank because he asked for change. The police were not called, no pepper spray was used and no arrests were made. But CHASE said to Sam Sharif, owner of Ummba Grill, we don’t want you here if you are going to be so demanding by asking our branch to keep a stock of five dollar bills around. The branch in the Palisades wants Sharif’s business and the business banker there has had a suitable relationship with Sharif for over six years going back to her time at Citi. Sam from Ummba isn’t the sort of man you would expect to be a trouble maker… in fact, Sam is one of the happiest people in Century City and Ummba has HAPPY HOUR all day on Monday and Tuesday and from 11-7 on Wednesday through Sunday. They offer half off all beers, well drinks and house wines and five dollar appetizers, five dollar specialty drinks, six dollar martinis, and twenty dollar specialty pitchers. Sam was so upset at being escorted out of the bank by security that he began a drink special at Ummba. For every customer that closes an account at CHASE he is offering a free blue shot with a “CHASEer”.


My blood boiled when we bailed out the banks and foreclosed on the little guy. Now that I have talked to the folks at CHASE in the media relations department who stood by the decision to throw Sam out of the bank it is bringing back the anger of the bail out. They are too big to fail. They no longer have to compete so having change for merchants isn’t a concern for CHASE anymore. They can’t lose. They don’t have to write loans. They don’t have to give customer service. Billions of dollars were given to them that they didn’t work for and that has led to this arrogance. I asked the Media Relations guy why they didn’t approach this straight up with Sam and call him up and ask him to take his money to another bank. He said, “We don’t want him to move his money. We just wanted him out of the bank.” That pretty much sums it up. They want our money but they no longer want us around. They no longer want to offer us the products we need. A merchant needs change and I wouldn’t blame Sam for being upset that his bank not only didn’t provide a tool he needed to run his business they refused to provide it and were incensed when he asked for it. The bank is appropriately named CHASE because they CHASE their customers away. It is time that we all stand up and toast Sam who had the audacity to ask for five dollar bills so that he could make change in his restaurant. It is time that we all stood toe to toe with Sam and didn’t wait for CHASE to CHASE us away. It is time that we voted with our dollars and moved all of our money, NATIONWIDE, out of the hands of arrogance and into banks that treat customers with respect and dignity.

They can continue to be arrogant as long as we support that arrogant behavior. I asked the media relations department to call Sam and work something out with him to make him happy because of his mistreatment. I told them that I didn’t want to write this story and that maybe they should offer him change for his restaurant whenever he needs it, or free checking for a year. But in the end all that happened is the two great managers at the Palisades Branch reached out to Sam on a personal level and told him that they stood by him for his loyal patronage and that there was nothing they could do.

Ummba Grill is an icon within Century City and is located at the Century City Mall. Pictured on the front cover is an amazing staff. It is the hip and happening place every summer as they have the best patio in West Los Angeles. Their patio is booked for events nightly and their success has led to large balances that are going to be moving to another bank, pronto. Those large balances are also leading to a second location at the best mall in Los Angeles – Santa Monica Place. This is the American Dream - two men who made good on their investment and won the hearts and stomachs of a finicky crowd to not just please but to exceed every expectation of their customers. Ummba Grill is the best Brazilian Restaurant North of the Border and people come back time and time again. I have held hundreds of events at Ummba and always had the best service from the staff and incredible food. When Abraham McDonald won the Oprah Winfrey Contest his celebration party was at Ummba Grill.

The time has come to focus all of that TARP anger on a single bank. So let’s satisfy that anger by voting with our dollars and pulling every last one of them out of CHASE. Let’s see how arrogant they are when all of their customers have left. If we focus this anger on a single bank, CHASE, we can send a signal to other banks that we are not to be mistreated when we ask for something a bank should provide in our business or in our life. We can send a message that America is a place where you must compete and provide products we need and customer service or we will CHASE you out of our country – that you are not too big to fail. Sam has offered a free shot with a CHASEer, what will other companies offer those that pull funds out of CHASE? Get on board!!!!

Sam is inviting all of Century City to come get a free blue shot with a CHASEer on Wednesday night the 18th of August beginning at 5pm. Come and show your support of Sam as a man who demanded that his bank provide him with change. Come slam your shot and then CHASE it down in support of Sam. Then tweet and retweet this information to all of your friends and families in America so that we can make a statement that banks shouldn’t be incensed when we ask for something we need.

Our Galaxy has 100 billion stars. The Universe has 400 billion galaxies. We can see all of this and have yet to identify a single planet that can sustain life as we enjoy it. We should therefore protect Mother Earth at all costs.

(This article was originally published on July 27th, 2010 in the Century City News)

THE LAST RESORT


Our Galaxy has 100 billion stars. The Universe has 400 billion galaxies. We can see all of this and have yet to identify a single planet that can sustain life as we enjoy it. We should therefore protect Mother Earth at all costs.

Truth exists. The more fully you align yourself with truth the better your life will be. Frustrations come from being out of harmony with truth.
Why Conservatives and Liberals should begin hugging their nearest tree.
I remember being a part of America as a kid and swept away with the newest hit on the airwaves. I must have been one of the first to buy the album, Hotel California. I played that album over and over on my record player. I was warned that I would damage the record but that didn’t stop me from listening to it again and again. I know I thought that I would just go down to the record store and buy another because I was living in the disposable era of America. I am quite sure that I was not alone in discovering what I thought was an obscure tune on the other side of the album called “The Last Resort”. I would sing that song, off key, for hours on end because I connected with the simple meaning.

“Who will provide the grand design?
What is yours and what is mine?
Cause there is no more new frontier
We have got to make it here.
We satisfy our endless needs and justify our bloody deeds.
In the name of yesterday and in the name of God.
And you can see them there on Sunday morning.
Stand up and sing about what its like up there.
They call it Paradise, I don’t know why.
Callin’ some place Paradise, kissing it goodbye.”

We, as Humanity, are obsessed with finding PARADISE. Milton’s Paradise Lost, the Bible’s Garden of Eden, Dante’s Inferno all talk about the qualities of PARADISE. There are many names for Paradise: Nirvana, Heaven,Elysian Fields,Tian, or Janna. There have been many great migrations throughout history looking for the greener grass… for Paradise. Columbus gave Europeans the “New World” where men and women could carve out their own personal Paradise. The Vikings migrated to the Mediterranean, Iceland and Greenland as well as the Continent of North America. Today finding our own Paradise has become a little more complicated. Nearly Seven Billion people occupy the planet and every single landmass has been identified and mapped. Today’s flight from our circumstances includes the dream of Space Travel to another Planet. The fact is that there is no place to go. Our neighboring planets are uninhabitable. Our moon is uninhabitable. The only home we know is Earth. The time is upon us as humanity to face this fact and to be careful about the choices we make to keep our home safe and comfortable. At least for the next five billion years.

WHEN I WAS YOUNG I BECAME A MORMON
Like the line from the song I was looking for the grand design. I was searching for answers. I was on a quest to find more. I found the message of the Mormons very interesting in my youth for a number of reasons.
I still have many friends and family in the Mormon Church and have no axe to grind. I still have many beliefs that are couched in Mormonism. Their eleventh article of faith is: “We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.” I would add to it a provision for the ever growing population of agnostics or atheists to not worship at all.

Star Trek was a popular television series at the time I joined Mormonism. Close Encounters, ET, Alien and Star Wars all created alternate space based realities that appealed to my sense of adventure. I was easily swept up in the belief that there were many planets to visit and that aliens were plentiful.

Mormons have as one of their core beliefs the promise of being good in this life results in a reward that would lead to the right to have your own planet and become a lesser God in charge to design and implement a plan for that planet. I have since thought that entire concept through and have no interest in that much responsibility. Additionally, if there are other planets out there to design we have yet to discover a single instance of a Mormon ruled planet.

A very good friend of mine was the production executive on “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”. He influenced me by letting me in on a secret that the researchers didn’t want to get out at the time the movie was released and that was that all of their research up to that time had led to the conclusion that there is nothing else out there. Since the release of the movie we have progressed so much. We created the Hubbell Telescope, other ground and space observatories, radio telescopes, sent numerous probes to the four corners of our solar system and we have recorded images millions of light years away. However, so far not a single planet has been discovered that is confirmed to be able to sustain life as we experience it.

THE GOLDILOCKS MISSION
Life is around us in many forms: Viruses, Bacteria, Micro Organisms, flora and fauna. Some life forms can exist in extreme conditions. The possibility that Alien Life Forms exist is highly probable. Stephen Hawkins has warned us that the best course of action with Alien Life Forms is to simply steer clear because of the threat they might pose to Humans if they are found to exist. Space is a gigantic place. The odds of us finding intelligent life before it finds us is rather slim. In the 50’s SETI was formed to find life on other planets. Just how many planets are they looking on?
Let’s look at some numbers. In our own galaxy there are 100 billion stars. In the part of the Universe that we can see there are another 400 billion galaxies. If we assume an average of 3 planets per star that becomes an unfathomable number of planets out in the Universe. Environments that can sustain human life are very rare, even on our own planet. Extreme conditions of floods, fires, earthquakes, volcanoes, tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis, droughts, are known to take human life. Man made disaster also can destroy life.

We all remember the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Too hot or too cold, too hard or too soft, too big or too small were all countered with the solution that was just right. Our own planet is “just right”. If we were spinning significantly faster we would be too cold to sustain life, if the earth were spinning significantly slower we would be too hot during the day and too cold at night to sustain life. We are also just right when it come to distance from the Sun. A little more distance from the Sun and we would be too cold and a little more near the Sun and we would be too hot.
Water is another element necessary to sustain life. Too much water and there is no ability to sustain life, too little water and there also is no ability to sustain life. Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide are elements that sustain life, as are plants,nutrients, animals, and insects, microorganisms, viruses, bacteria, minerals and sunlight. Each element is important to the overall ecosystem.
“The Goldilocks Mission is the first dedicated organization to set, as its goal, the travel to and the colonization of another truly livable planet when it is discovered. This may take many decades before this mission leaves earth and possibly many more, depending on future developments and discoveries in propulsion in space and time travel, before it arrives at its new home.”
-Dr. Spencer Brown

Criteria for a sustainable planet:
1. A star in the same class as our sun or perhaps a red dwarf.
2. Dense planet like our Earth.
3. High metallic content.
4. Not too hot or too cold.
5. Enough water but not too much water.
6. Plate tectonics and geological activity.
7. Presence of Carbon Dioxide and Oxygen.
8. Absence of noxious gases or acids in concentrated amounts.
9. Absence of noxious bacteria.
10. Absence of noxious viruses.
11. Foundation for complex chemistry.

To further complicate the search for a place to go is the fact that even though we have developed the ability to get into Space we have no means to travel the, perhaps, hundreds of million light years away to get there. The myth that there is a place to go will elude us for thousands of years at best.

If we do find a place to go and we develop the means to get there we will have to wrestle with the moral issue of displacing other life forms to preserve our own existence.

TIME IS OUR MOST IMPORTANT COMMODITY
We have a home right now called Earth and time is ticking away.

EARTH DAY
There was a method to the madness of walking two Llamas from Mann’s Chinese Theater, in Hollywood to Century City. The entire endeavor was without any commercial interests. One day a year we have a day that honors our great home, Mother Earth. One day a year it is O.K. to have our motivations be about not profiting but giving back. Our goal was to honor Earth Day…not just any Earth Day but the 40th anniversary of a day dedicated to being grateful for a place to be. Our Home. Brett Stevens, Stuart Wilde and I walked with the Llamas and traffic stopped to photograph us in Los Angeles with these majestic animals.
I got a telephone call from my son when he saw the picture on the AP wire. He was mocking me for walking with the Llamas calling me the tree hugger that I am. I silenced him with a few words. We wanted to send a message that people could walk more and drive less. Emits less exhaust, saves precious oil, costs less, takes traffic off the road and burns calories – I don’t see anything here you are against. In fact I don’t see anything here anybody is against. Everybody I know of all political persuasions wants a clean environment. No one wants one industry to cause other industries to perish due to pollution. In fact, all of us want people to take responsibility for their own actions – good or bad.

An environmental disaster caused thousands of birds to perish. The oil spill widened being carried by winds and swells. Seals and dolphins were washing up on shore dead with oil clogging the blowholes of the dolphins leading to a painful and horrific lung hemorrhaging. The BP spill you ask? No, this was the oil spill of 1969 which was the impetus to getting momentum behind the very first Earth Day. Said Fred L. Hartley, President of Union Oil Company: “I don’t like to call it a disaster, because there has been no loss of human life. I am amazed at the publicity for the loss of a few birds.”

Forty years later we have coinciding with the celebration of Earth Day another major environmental disaster that threatens the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. The oil will virtually kill the fishing industry in the area and the toll to bird wildlife will be catastrophic. There was the loss of life in this disaster and Tony Hayward said to the Guardian Newspaper, “The Gulf of Mexico is a very big ocean: The amount of volume of oil and dispersant we are putting into it is tiny in relation to the total water volume.” If we don’t hold them accountable they try to minimize the effect and skip responsibility.

Now is the time for all Americans to come together to prevent disasters of this magnitude. In Los Angeles we have representatives from every single country in the world. The most diverse population that has ever existed resides within our city limits. We have the ability to turn 2011 into the biggest Earth Day ever to march from downtown Los Angeles to the Santa Monica Pier with our Llamas in tow to create an International Earth Day where men and women from all cultures, political affiliations, religions, and walks of life celebrate our home on Earth without any commercialization of the event. After the successful march we could have the participants reach back to their homelands to encourage participation from every recognized nation on the globe.

Senator Gaylord Nelson created the first Earth Day. We congratulate him on this accomplishment. We can make the day much more meaningful by following in his footsteps. We can use our own footsteps to honor the only home we have ever known and the only home that we can see with our monster telescopes that can sustain life as we know it.

Thomas Storke spoke after the Santa Barbara Spill, “Never in my long lifetime have I ever seen such an aroused populace at the grassroots level. This oil pollution has done something I have never seen before in Santa Barbara – it has united citizens of all political persuasions in a truly nonpartisan cause.”

We can give meaning to the loss of life – flora and fauna by coming together on April 22, every year and honoring our home – Mother Earth. Who will march with us on this Earth Day? We are making plans to celebrate Earth Day in 2011 with another Llama Walk and we invite all to join us.

© 2010 Michael Douglas Carlin. All Rights Reserved.

Llama Walk on Earth Day

(This article originally appeared in the May 10th, 2010 edition of the Century City News)

by Michael Douglas Carlin

So many of you have called, written or emailed asking about the Llama Photos on Earth Day. There was a method to the madness of walking two Llamas from Mann’s Chinese Theater to Century City. The entire endeavor was not commercially motivated. One day a year we should have a day that honors our great home, Mother Earth. One day a year it is O.K. to have our motivations be about not profiting but giving back. Our goal was to honor Earth Day…not just any Earth Day but the 40th anniversary of a day dedicated to being grateful for a place to be. Our Home.

I got a telephone call from my son when he saw the picture on the AP wire. He was mocking me for walking with the Llamas calling me the tree hugger that I am. I silenced him with a few words. We wanted to send a message that people could walk more and drive less. Emits less exhaust, saves precious oil, costs less, takes traffic off the road and burns calories – I don’t see anything here you are against. In fact I don’t see anything here anybody is against. Everybody I know of all political persuasions wants a clean environment. No one wants one industry to cause other industries to perish due to pollution. In fact, all of us want people to take responsibility for their own actions – good or bad.

An environmental disaster caused thousands of birds to perish. The oil spill widened being carried by winds and swells. Seals and dolphins were washing up on shore dead with oil clogging the blowholes of the dolphins leading to a painful and horrific lung hemorrhaging. The BP spill you ask? No, this was the oil spill of 1969 which was the impetus to getting momentum behind the very first Earth Day. Said Fred L. Hartley, President of Union Oil Company: “I don’t like to call it a disaster, because there has been no loss of human life. I am amazed at the publicity for the loss of a few birds.”

Forty years later we have coinciding with the celebration of Earth Day another major environmental disaster that threatens the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. The oil will virtually kill the fishing industry in the area and the toll to bird wildlife will be catastrophic. There was the loss of life in this disaster and Tony Hayward said to the Guardian Newspaper, “The Gulf of Mexico is a very big ocean: The amount of volume of oil and dispersant we are putting into it is tiny in relation to the total water volume.” If we don’t hold them accountable they try to minimize the effect and skip responsibility.

Now is the time for all Americans to come together to prevent disasters of this magnitude. In Los Angeles we have representatives from every single country in the world. The most diverse population that has ever existed resides within our city limits. We have the ability to turn 2011 into the biggest Earth Day ever to march from downtown Los Angeles to the Santa Monica Pier with our Llamas in tow to create an International Earth Day where men and women from all cultures, political affiliations, religions, and walks of life celebrate our home on Earth without any commercialization of the event. After the successful march we could have the participants reach back to their homelands to encourage participation from every recognized nation on the globe.

Senator Gaylord Nelson created the first Earth Day. We congratulate him on this accomplishment. We can make the day much more meaningful by following in his footsteps. We can use our own footsteps to honor the only home we have ever known and the only home that we can see with our monster telescopes that can sustain life as we know it.

Thomas Storke spoke after the Santa Barbara Spill, “Never in my long lifetime have I ever seen such an aroused populace at the grassroots level. This oil pollution has done something I have never seen before in Santa Barbara – it has united citizens of all political persuasions in a truly nonpartisan cause.”

We can give meaning to the loss of life – flora and fauna by coming together on April 22, 2011.

Aaron Cohen 2010 Citizen of the Year

(This article originally appeared in the May 10th, 2010 edition of the Century City News)

Aaron Cohen - The Promise of America

By Michael Douglas Carlin

The Promise of America is that no matter what your current station you can take advantage of the opportunities in front of you right now and make your life better through working hard and obtaining an education. Aaron Cohen is not only a believer in this promise but an achiever of this promise. Now we are celebrating Aaron as the 2010 Century City Citizen of the Year, an award given by the prestigious Century City Chamber of Commerce. Aaron is an unprecedented two time recipient of this award. Each award was twenty years apart signifying that Aaron not only made it but he maintained his position in life and within the Century City Business Community. In any other country this would be a story that would become a legend, myth or fable. In America this is a common story about a man that began in the most humble of circumstances and rose to greatness. Common because others have achieved the same result from their hard work and dedication but uncommon because from a purely numbers standpoint this story isn’t repeated near enough in America or the rest of the World.

Aaron began life in Bulgaria and at the age of 10 dealt with Nazi occupation for two years. He took advantage of an opportunity to leave for Palestine. At 15 ½ Aaron did time in a British Jail for protesting against the policy of not letting Holocaust Survivors come to Palestine as outlined in the British White Paper of 1939. Aaron joined the Israeli Underground becoming one of the most elite commandos. They were known as Palmach and they fought against the armies opposed to the formation of Israel. They passed a single machine gun from village to village to give the appearance that their firepower was greater than it actually was. Aaron would volunteer for these dangerous night missions where failure meant certain death. Together with his battlebuddies they defeated the armies of Syria, Sudan, Jordan, Egypt and Iraq to bring the dream of a sovereign nation of Israel into being against all odds. While in Israel he was one of the founders of the Kibbutz Urim. In Israel he met a woman that would change his life forever. He married an American with full intention of settling in Israel but was sent for when she visited home.

He arrived in New York not speaking the language, with no money, no education and no job. But what he did have was a willingness to work hard and to learn. Three days after his arrival he was in school learning English. He worked a factory job during the week, went to school at nights, and worked a second job on the weekends to make ends meet. At the factory he was named a management trainee just prior to the end of the Korean War. When the war was over he was laid off. He vowed that he would never be laid off again. He came to the west coast where he learned how to clean windows and floors.


There are many people from that era that would love to claim that Mary Pickford gave them their start but Aaron was blessed to be able to work for Mary cleaning her house -this lead to other celebrities that needed their homes cleaned and then to Mary’s first commercial building. Aaron landed a contract to clean all of the Hamburger Hamlets and according to his philosophy that all anybody wants to see is a hard working honest guy he landed all of Buckeye Realty’s buildings. He sold his business and stayed on to manage it. Now he hails from ABM the largest maintenance company in the business. The company has expanded their offerings to include security, engineering, and parking to compliment their stranglehold on the maintenance business.

Aaron’s favorite claim to fame is that all three of his kids graduated from the same High-School. Three years to the day after Aaron arrived in the United States he was made a U.S. Citizen. He credits his teachers. One teacher gave him the book he needed to complete the course at a time when Aaron couldn’t afford the book on his own. All of his teachers, and he remembers every single one of them, instilled a deeper appreciation in our Country. In Century City Aaron is known for his patriotism. He regularly leads the Century City Chamber of Commerce Meetings Flag Salute. Then at the end he thunders “AND GOD BLESS AMERICA AND GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS.” Every time Aaron sees any uniformed soldier he stops everything and politely addresses them thanking them for their service. When it comes to the buildings in Century City there isn’t a single one that his sweat hasn’t been left in. Aaron is a proof that the promise of America is still alive.

Kids Win With South Central Los Angeles Peace

This article originally appeared in the March 9th, 2010 edition of the Century City News) - Special thanks to literary agent Mickey Frieberg for arranging this interview

By Michael Douglas Carlin

Just another day. Gary Robinson, nick named “Nugget”, pulls up at the local grocery store. He’s there buying a few things for the wife and kids. He doesn’t think much about the 15 rival gang members hanging out in front of the store. After all, peace had just been negotiated. This store is part of the fabric of the neighborhood. Nugget emerged from the store with a couple of bags of groceries. He got the groceries stowed safely in the back seat. Then he opened the driver door of his Buick. He heard a familiar sound. Instinctively he looked up and knew he was in trouble.

Nugget was known in his neighborhood. He was always a leader. At a very young age Nugget formed “The Junior War Lords”. They began stealing bubble gum, and soda but the pattern of unchecked petty crimes escalate to robberies, extortion, and murder.

Where the rival gangbangers had just stood was a lone gangbanger standing with an assault rifle. He was there on serious business. Standing there Nugget knew that his death would most assuredly be avenged. You would think that this knowledge would be comforting but so many things had recently changed. He felt like there was so much more to do, yet a single bullet would end it all. There was a pause, a hesitation. Neighborhood kids came around the corner and grasped what was about to happen. They were used to this sort of thing in their neighborhood. They ran off beginning to shout, “they killed Nugget, they killed Nugget.”

At eight years old Nugget had become fascinated with the gangster life style. He watched the Hollywood glorification of the underworld. His favorite television show was “The Untouchables”. He saw Meyer Lansky’s gangersterism glorified as he rose to become a millionaire through applying the principles of that gangersterism. Most of all what resonated with young Nugget was the respect of others that being a gangster commanded. Gangsters were shown to their table in the popular club while others waited in line. They were given fruit on the street from vendors, they were greeted everywhere with respect. Nugget joined the Raymond Avenue Crypts becoming a full fledged gang member. He continued to read every book about gangsterism and collected television shows and movies. Much of what this gang learned came from what Nugget researched and he became a leader to be feared or to be silenced.

Nugget had accepted his fate and made no attempt to take cover. News began spreading through the neighborhood. This was a small town trapped in a forgotten part of the big city. The hub in this neighborhood has always been Helen Keller Park. The park had become notorious as a killing zone. A gang member might be killed there in the early evening but even the police were afraid to enter the park at night and they would simply leave the body until morning to begin their investigation. Those investigations were merely paperwork for the files. A dead man in South Central was never treated like a dead man in Beverly Hills or Santa Monica.

A hit, which this undoubtedly was, necessitated success. This wasn’t a kid. This was a hardened criminal, recently paroled that knew how to use a weapon. The hesitation was the only moment of respect that would be given. The chamber was loaded with a click and the bullets began to fly. The trigger was squeezed and casings spun out of the weapon. Each crack sent another casing airborne. Then one by one they began to hit the ground. Flames were coming out of the barrel of the rifle that seemed continuous. That thundering rat, tat, tat that every gangster television show was known for was playing out on a street in South Central Los Angeles. This time the bullets were lead and cutting through Nug’s Buick. When the thundering gunshots ended the silence gave way to the casings landing and bouncing on the concrete. Twenty seven casings lay strewn all about the scene.

At 11 Nugget was in the neighborhood when a car loaded with his friends pulled up. The stolen car had already committed half a dozen robberies and other crimes when Nugget climbed in expecting a joy ride. Instead what he got was an arrest a few miles later that resulted in a seven month legal battle. A postal worker saved Nugget’s life when he told the jury that Nugget wasn’t the kid that committed the crime. But seven months in the Youth Authority turned Nugget into a General Patton, a Luciano, a Lansky, a Scarface. Now Nugget employed his knowledge about gangsterism to charge shopkeepers for protection. From there they entered the drug trade which was the hottest thing to hit America. Nugget was out of control. Soon he was known to law enforcement and was picked up on an old homicide charge but after a stint in jail it became obvious that there wasn’t enough evidence to get a conviction so he was released. But the life of crime continued and it wasn’t long before he faced new charges that resulted in a conviction. Prison meant new connections and education about becoming a better criminal. Upon Nugget’s release from prison he met a woman that would change everything. He was always too busy being a gangster to settle down with any one woman that fly right and left at a man with that type of power. When Shonda became the apple of Nugget’s eye he attempted to kidnap her. Problem was she wasn’t havin’ it. Never before had he met a woman that he wanted that he couldn’t have. Her refusal made him want her all the more. When she asked him if he was a gangster he lied and told her he had nothing to do with the gangs. Then one day she saw a duffle bag filled with assault rifles. She said, “I thought you weren’t into gangs.” He came clean with her but she was already in love with Nugget.

The kids were running through the neighborhood shouting that Nugget had been killed. Anyone listening that night had heard the gunshots. Like all neighborhoods people were coming out of their homes to see what was happening. News about Nugget was something that spread like wildfire. He had always been a person that the neighborhood looked up to as well as being the man that many looked to for protection. Sirens filled the night air alerting the neighborhood that something was amiss in their world. News travels fast in a tight knit community. Police cruisers were traveling toward the sound of the gunshots with their lights ablaze.

Nugget had gone back to prison. Upon his release he was hired to his first honest job in telecommunications. That didn’t stop his involvement in gangs and the duffle bags filled with guns were still around. This time something was different. His relationship with Shonda was bringing him to a new place in life where he wanted something more. At church he complained that no one was preaching the “real sermon”. He was called out to leave his life of being the “Beast” and become submissive to God. He became a coach to a baseball team that was comprised of all of the “bad seeds” – the kids the other teams didn’t want because they were troublemakers. The Helen Keller Oriels first practice was an all out brawl. Nugget recalls it as just like the “Bad News Bears”. Malcolm was on that first team and he remembers it well: “Nugget was so well respected in the neighborhood that we all listened to him. He was able to give us the discipline that we needed. We came together as a team.” The first three games were lost but this team gelled and never lost again. They swept through every team that had labeled them as “bad seeds”. Each win brought the taste of retribution without any bloodshed. The kids were learning the benefits of peace and Nugget was there to teach them the new way. Nugget and the kids had found a path to become respected without any killing.

Several seasons later came the true test. Taco came to practice without his cleats. Nugget asked him why he showed up to practice unprepared. Taco said, “I got my cleats in the car.” “Well go and get them and come back here ready to play.” Taco went off to the car but before he could get his cleats a 2000 Impala came up with the windows rolled down. Shots rang out and Taco lay dead in the street. Nugget felt as if he had sent Taco to his death. He was mad…real mad. Every fiber of Gangster rose up within Nugget that day and he began assembling the retribution crew. Shonda saw the duffle bags come out again with the rifles. War had been sparked and the entire crew wanted to avenge the death of Taco by shedding more blood.

Shonda put her foot down. “There will be no more killing. That ain’t gunna solve it. Nugget! You are the only man that can bring peace – they respect you – they will listen to you.”

“Peace? Nobody wants peace. War is what we all want.”

“You always say you are a leader so show it now. Make peace! Do it for me and your babies. Taco won’t be coming back to the park no matter what but you can save other kids lives by choosing peace. You can give Taco’s death a new meaning.”

Shonda was able to talk sense into her husband and Nugget made the choice for peace. He got on the airwaves and plead for peace. Fox news and various radio stations carried his appeal for peace. Nugget backed by his wife was able to broker what at first was a fragile peace. Another drive by shooting happened as bullets flew at Taco’s house but the peace held.

Four weeks later Nugget found himself standing in the parking lot of the local grocery store with glass all around him, twenty-seven bullet casings lying on the ground, milk pouring in the backseat of his car from a bullet-hole but not a single round had touched him. Soon the police cruisers and entire neighborhood arrived to witness the scene. The community had heard the shots and the early rumor of his death but Nugget was very much alive. With this miracle Nugget was now more committed to peace.

What had begun as a truce between two rival gangs with a 30 year history of violence has evolved six years later to affect 38 gangs that have signed on to the peace. Bloods and Crypts walk freely in the neighborhood that would have meant certain death just a few years ago. Now they play sports together and take out their differences on the baseball field, basketball court, or football field. To date thousands of lives have been saved.

Nugget asks his kids if they want to make $145 a day selling crack, $80 a day working at McDonalds or thirteen cents a day in Federal Prison. He wants them to see a job at McDonalds as a real opportunity. Malcolm says, “this is a catalyst for something bigger. Helen Keller was known for overcoming obstacles. Helen Keller Park is where the inner-cities began overcoming our obstacles.” Nugget now runs CURE and you can help him bring peace to other neighborhoods within the inner-cities by getting involved with him giving the gift of sports to other “at risk” kids. They need uniforms, equipment and transportation to keep the programs going. Donate your time or money to help keep the PEACE. To reach Nugget you can call him at 323.765.7520.

What Hangs On Your Wall Says So Much More About You Than You Know…

(This article originally appeared in the September 9th, 2009 edition of the Century City News)

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words. What Are Your Pictures Saying About You?

By Michael Douglas Carlin

Bank of America in Century City has had numerous complaints about the art displayed in the back of the bank. Customers complain to Anthony, the branch manager, about the Bank taking TARP money while at the same time displaying art worth millions of dollars.

Too pricy of art might send the wrong message to your customers. Cheap art might also send the wrong message. The fine line that says community might be at your doorstep today. How about art that speaks to your clients and employees about the human condition? How about art that documents what is happening to animals on our planet? How about art that documents the changes that are happening to our MOTHER EARTH?

I grew up in a lighting and grip house in Burbank. My father was a lighting director and I spent many days working with photographers. I have worked with hundreds and I have grown to know the good ones from the bad just by being present at the photographing event. The bad ones often get occasionally lucky with a random shot that gets acclaim. The good ones don’t take pictures…they make pictures. I was never able to put this into words until I heard Colin Finlay tell me this over lunch one day. Taking pictures has the connotation of being a spectator at the event. Making pictures brings the photographer into the fabric of the event as a participant.

I knew there was something different about Colin Finlay and his work when I saw his photos. I have seen literally millions of photos in my lifetime and I recognized that a high percentage of his photos were exceptional if not brilliant. I only came to understand him as a photographer when I actually was present at one photographing event. I arranged for Colin to visit “Star Echo Station” in Culver City. I was introduced to “Star” by Stephen Nemeth at his birthday party a couple of years ago and grew to love the place. This is where animals that have been illegally brought into the country are confiscated and sent.

Star has the ability to care for wild animals and they provide a sanctuary that school children can visit to learn about the plight of endangered species as well as what we all can do to help heal our environment. I phoned ahead and talked to someone there and suggested that we visit to take some photos. I was informed about the rules and the documents that would need to be signed for us to visit. I suggested to them that they look up Colin on the internet. I got the feeling that being able to take photographs there was a common request and that there had been procedures established to minimize the number that actually followed through.

When we arrived they knew who Colin was and all of the procedure went out the window. They were grateful he had showed up to see what they were doing. The conversation was very genuine. Two great institutions were meeting for the first time. They abandoned all protocol and opened the cages of wild animals and allowed us to enter for a photographic experience I will always remember. I personally witnessed Colin transform into a quiet almost silent communicator of animals. The respect that he gave them from the moment he met them seemed to tell them that he was there to help others understand them. He seemed to ask them for their photo and they responded by giving Colin a performance. Each animal was different. I felt like I could almost understand what each animal was saying but I knew that Colin understood. In that moment I came to understand the emotion that each animal feels. I was always taught that human beings were the only life forms that can feel emotion. On that day this myth was forever shattered in my mind. I felt the enormous intelligence of the birds. I felt the longing of the cats for the days when they roamed free. I felt the sorrow that all animals feel at being pushed off of the face of the Earth.

I had heard Colin say that every time he made a photograph he left a little of himself behind and that every time he also took a little of his subject with him. I came to understand just what that meant, that day at Star Echo Station. I came to understand just how Colin got such incredible photographs of the Polar Bears, Grizzlies, Elephants and all other animals that he established this trance like connection with. Keep in mind that in the wild he often gets 15 feet or less away from some of the most dangerous animals. He told me about being less than 12 feet away from a family of Grizzlies. At any moment it could have gone wrong and he could have been killed.

Colin is no stranger to danger. He has documented, through his photos, both sides of the conflict in the Holy land. Colin has also travelled to Darfur, Rwanda, Northern Ireland and many other places documenting conflict. He has faced numerous situations that seemed hopeless with bullets flying but so far has managed to return with some incredible photographs. Colin has seen man’s inhumanity to man first hand. Colin has witnessed outright genocide. His book “Testify” brought awareness of the conflict in the Sudan where the Janjaweed are being hired by the Sudanese Government to drive the Fur, Zaghawa, and Masalit from their homes and lands, killing the men and brutally raping the women.

I met Colin at Bill Pruitt’s “Men’s Night”. This is a group of Westside men that meet to talk about the issues of the day. That particular night I was with my very good friend Sir Edward and he was sharing the floor with Colin Finlay. Colin spoke first and showed photographs of places Ed had been. Colin captured the images in such a way that evoked a memory response in Ed where he could actually remember the smell he had experienced when he was there. I watched as these men talked about these places…literally dozens of them where they visited hours apart. They talked about details that only someone who had been there would know. The conversation broke down into weeping and an embrace for two warriors who had approached the same issues and places from a different perspective and had drawn the same conclusions. To this day the two men are still very close and will forever share the bond of the inhumanity they witnessed. A part of both of these men was left behind at each place they visited and a part of that place will forever remain with them. Ed brought relief into these dangerous places and Colin photographed them but both men came to understand that we as human beings can’t allow this type of criminal activity to continue and both men are champions of ending it forever.
What you have on your walls says a lot about you…I suggest that you allow a part of Colin Finlay and the places he has documented to speak to your employees and clients that you join with all of us in ending the tragedies that have been allowed to go unchecked – until now.

The Century City News is hosting a VIP reception for Mr. Finlay on September 23, 2009 at 6 PM to be held at Cal National Bank on the corner of Avenue of the Stars and Santa Monica Blvd. (1800 AOS). The event is sponsored by The Century City News and Cal National Bank additional sponsorship opportunities are available. I am personally inviting every reader of the Century City News to attend the event. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to meet one of the world’s most active eco-warriors. Meet someone who has actually travelled to the four corners of the world to see with his own eyes what is happening to our planet and hear his message of hope that we can turn it all around before we reach the tipping point. Reach out to your friends from around the city and invite them out to hear first hand accounts of ecological disasters and recovery opportunities.
For more information on Mr. Finlay I refer you to his website at www.colinfinlay.com

Colin Finlay to Speak at the Annenberg

(This article originally appeared in the September 9th, 2009 edition of the Century City News)

COLIN FINLAY is one of the foremost documentary photographers in the world. He has been awarded the prestigious Picture of the Year International (POYi) honor six times.

For more than twenty years, Finlay has documented the human condition with compassion, empathy and dignity. He has covered war and conflict, disappearing traditions, the environment in both its glory and its devastation, genocide, famine, religious pilgrimage and global cultures. In pursuit of his passion, he has circled the globe twenty-seven times, in search of that one photo that will be a testament to the depth of human will and compassion, of hope and of an informed collective consciousness.

His work has been honored by prestigious organizations such as the Lucie Award/IPA, POYi (Picture of the Year International), New York Art Directors, Photo District News (PDN), Applied Arts, International Center for Photography, and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

His photographs have been featured in Vanity Fair, TIME, U.S. News and World Report, American Photo, Los Angeles Magazine, Asia Week, World Health Organization, UNICEF, Photographic Magazine, Communication Arts and Discovery.

Currently, Finlay is also a partner/collaborator at Definitive Stories, a partnership that produces and curates stories from around the world, using emerging technologies.

Finlay’s second book “Testify,” is a collection of images from seventeen years of photojournalism around the globe, and was published in 2006.

“Darfur: Twenty Years of War and Genocide in Sudan,” Finlay’s third book, was published in July 2007, by powerHouse. Co-produced with Proof and Amnesty International, this book brings to light the history of war by eight world-renowned photographers and writers. Established by Finlay, Proof is a non-profit organization established to create awareness on the issues faced by populations in post-conflict societies and to encourage social change through photography.

In 2007, Finlay also premiered 12°N x 23° E, 64°S x 60° E, a photo essay that features contrasts between photographs taken in Sudan and Antarctica. The essay, which is also produced as an art installation book, was curated by Definitive Stories. The book shows cause and effect and allows the viewer to explore and discover their own conclusions on climate change.

She came to be known by me and only me as the flycatcher. I photographed from within, as her soul slowly tore itself from her body. I sat with her in the suffering of her silence. There was no language between us. There never could be. Her name, yes her name. In her open wounds, of which there were many, flies would be drawn. Their tiny legs, swallowed, dragged down into the puss became trapped. The flycatcher would study one wound in particular. It was at the base of her inside right ankle. The place where earlier a three to four foot worm had been dutifully extracted. Although sometimes the parasite simply ate itself out of the body. She harvested from this hole two to three flies a minute. She would carefully capture them, placing one after another into her mouth. She sat alone in the black heat. Nobody came near her. They simply waited. For her next was the devils tail. Inevitable “Inconvenient Truth” I believe Al Gore would call it. This is where her essence would fall from within her. The rectum, the lower bowels, are simply no longer be held by the body, and what was once inside is now out. Death, I wish was quicker.

But now, she lies within me. Folded into my soul, her and the thousands of others. I do not reject. I now accept their souls as one within me. The courage to live with what I’ve seen.
- Colin Finlay

There was a time, when those who came to spawn were the only ones. They were soon followed by the fish who swim as rainbows, those who came to swallow the egg. Then came the bears with their dusted coats of caramel, all gathered for hibernations harvest. They dove out from the shores of the Kirkuit as brilliant acrobats into their shared river of life. All of them feeding a hunger that time alone and consequence has brought. As it has brought me. I am compelled however to speak of truth. I am here to witness beauty, sidestepping my stock and trade of tragedy. In these first days of fall, as the leaves of cottonwood turn to trees of golden fire I wade out into the water in my chest waders to swim with the bears. The camera I have brought with me lies at the fringe of irrelevant…I am now one with the water as they are. This river of autumn’s gold.
- Colin Finlay

You will die. Man will see to that. You have beneath your paws oil, and this is something we kill men, women and children for. And death, it will not discriminate and it will not be quick. You are to be protected under the endangered species act, but the caveat is that you are the only animal where your environment does not have to be protected. Inuit elder’s are said to be reincarnating into your very essence. To know what it is that you feel, to learn from within your soul. Inhabit your eyes, to understand your pain, and the hunger that consumes you, joining you in your plight.

The scientists that I have worked with, your brothers of great empathy, they have been studying you since 1969 and tell me that by 2015 half of the bears in my photographs will be gone and the entire population will be extinct by 2040. I have now heard that since our conversations that number has been reduced downward to 2035. The ice bear will be gone, bred in captivity and living in zoos of white paint and swimming pools so that we can go visit her polar majesty. I am glad that I saw you when you were once free. Where I stood with you in the deep silence that is the Arctic, your infinite horizon, the land that you walk upon, your home. I arrived into your winter, to hear your breath, to see your offspring and the mother that you are, to witness, with guilt, knowing that my species will usher your sacred lives down the vast unlit halls until the last flutter of your heart dies within you.
- Colin Finlay

I found the “Lords of Africa”, and they sleep there under clouds of guilt with their innocence. Ancient infants, caught between two worlds. One that wants them and one that does not. Refugees of the Great Plains, the savannah, limbs cut from the tree of life. They whisper now into the thunder and I am here to photograph their voice.

Drought, it has come to Tsavo, the worst since 1850 and the water, the commodity that it is, is now precious and fought over. Man triumphs here, bringing down the Lords because they drink too much water, leaving less and less for his goats and cattle who do not belong here in the first place. Felling grace, leaving the infants to die of starvation. At times the tusks are taken and the Ellie’s, as the babies are known, are driven off leaving the men to butcher in peace, these harvesters of the land whales. Leaving behind what they think is a lesser god to man.

And from this darkness comes 22 baby elephants, more than twice the number they have ever had since opening in 1975. Lula, the most recent refugee to arrive, timid to stand amongst the others keeps her red jacket on the longest. Eyes still withdrawn, sucked in, closed to what she must have seen as her mother was killed before her. I don’t know how she stands with her pain, how she could allow the touch of another human, another voice. I was gifted time with them, these “Lords of Africa” and in that time I would be changed forever. I couldn’t help but be as Lula and the others folded me into their world.

From this silence came Kalama, she dropped her head and gently pushed me. From side to side she rubbed against me, seeing just how much my body would give. An early assertion of her strength, her power over me, and once I knew my place, once I was approved, she broke, gently wrapping her trunk around my wrist and lower forearm pulling me towards her. The bond. She wanted to suckle from my finger and for a brief moment I became her surrogate mother. She raised her trunk, using it to anchor or balance herself against my chest as she continued to suckle. A few minutes later, her eyes closed and I felt more of her weight upon me. She was asleep now as I held her in my arms. I brushed a fly away from her eye and felt for the first time in my life what it must be to be a parent. Her silence now sleeps with me in my heart, this gentle “Lord of Africa” and I am grateful to have shared in a love so unique.
- Colin Finlay

September 23rd - 26th is Colin Finlay in Century City Week
23rd - VIP Reception at Cal National Bank 6pm - 1800 Avenue of the Stars
24th - Lecture 6:30-8pm at the Annenberg Space For Photography 2000 Avenue of the Stars
26th - Workshop 9am-4pm at the Annenberg Space For Photography 2000 Avenue of the Stars