High School Journalism for Shellyne

A Conversation with Reuven Fenton

03 October 2023

S. Rodriguez (2022). 'On the Subject of Defiant Mobility.' colored pencil on paper.

Shellyne Rodriguez (2022). "On the Subject of Defiant Mobility."

contents

see also

Preface:  Mr. Fenton and I disagree, but I appreciate his response. I have included his reply below, so that this page presents both sides of the story.


Date:Tue 03 Oct 2023
From:Eryk Wdowiak
To:Reuven Fenton (NYPost)
Subject:High School Journalism for Shellyne

Dear Mr. Fenton,

You got the guilty plea that you wanted yesterday. You can stop celebrating.

Instead of congratulating you, I am writing to share the advice that my advisor gave me when I was a 17-year-old high school journalist.

For reference, linked here and attached is a news article (27 Jan 1993) with an account of his advice to me. I invite you to read the article and compare my high school journalism with your coverage of Shellyne Rodriguez.

Our student newspaper routinely covered school board meetings and commented on the issues that affected us as students. We often interviewed politicians. And in the course of our reporting, the school board president yelled at four student journalists on four separate occasions.

Yes. The school board president yelled at us. Four times.

After the fourth occasion, we decided to write an editorial about the way she was treating us. And we would have published it, but our advisor encouraged us to give her an opportunity to respond.

So instead of publishing it, we sent her a letter with a copy of the proposed editorial and we gave her a whole month to respond. We wanted to meet with her and interview her (like other journalists).

She never responded. And because she never responded, we intended to publish our editorial. As you'll see in the news article, our editorial got censored, but reached a much larger audience.

Comparing those events 30 years ago to your coverage of Shellyne Rodriguez today, I remember that our advisor encouraged his student journalists to give the school board president a whole month to respond.

And I'm writing to share his advice with you. Instead of driving to someone's home with a freelance photographer and a car full of cameras at 7:30 in the morning, please give the subject of your interview a proper opportunity to respond.

Pro tip:  If you're going to surprise someone, it's better to surprise them with coffee than photography.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. In the future, I hope you will interview people like a high-school journalist.

Sincerely,
- Eryk

ps:  As your NYPost colleagues reported, the terms of the deal that she agreed to yesterday will wipe her record clean. She'll complete the counseling and avoid trouble as the terms require. And then her record will be clean.

As you said in your own video: "I don't believe that she, for a second, that there was ever any intention to actually do me harm."

references:


Date:Tue 03 Oct 2023
From:Reuven Fenton (NYPost)
To:Eryk Wdowiak
Subject:Re: High School Journalism for Shellyne

Eryk, thank you for your letter. I always appreciate when someone takes the time to organize their thoughts, and you went the extra mile with the citations. Look, all I can say is that in the fast-paced word of NYC journalism, I'm like a short-order cook. Today's news is yesterday's history, and I'm obligated to try for interviews as quickly as I can. If I gave her a month to respond, the story would have been ancient. Also, it wasn't 7:30 a.m. I think it was around 10:30. And I was with one photographer with a single camera. (His car is equipped with dash cams, which he installed for his safety). And I was gentle and conciliatory on the doorknock, believe it or not. Brandishing a machete was not cool.

Yours, 

REUVEN FENTON
STAFF REPORTER, New York Post

In Support of Shellyne Rodriguez

21 August 2023

That's what Mr. Fenton said. And what I would say in response. 'Quit harassing her.'

That's what Mr. Fenton said. And what I would say in response. "Quit harassing her."

I earned a doctorate from the CUNY Graduate Center and I spent 16 years teaching at CUNY colleges.

When a place where I had spent so much of my life appeared on television screens around the world, I began looking for information about the event that occurred at a place where I spent so much of my life.

I wanted to know what really happened. I wanted to know the truth. I knew nothing about Shellyne Rodriguez prior to the news coverage. After the news coverage, I wanted to know everything about her.

Maybe I feel distressed because we both live in New York City. Maybe I feel distressed because we taught at the same university. Maybe I feel distressed because we have had similar experiences.

In my distress, I began searching for the truth. And as I searched, I typed what I found into her Wikipedia article.

What I found was a professor who cares about her students. I found an artist who cares about her community. I found a wonderful person.

And I found an NYPost article (23 May 2023 at 4:18pm) which describes her as a victim of police violence. The article quoted from the lawsuit that she filed against the NYPD, while simultaneously accusing her of violence against an NYPost reporter.

Two weeks later, a Wikipedia administrator suddenly became interested in my edits to her Wikipedia article. He suddenly found a bunch of policy violations.

Among other warnings, he told me that it is inappropriate to include content for the purpose of "trying to support someone who [I] feel has gotten an unfair treatment." On that basis, he removed content from the article, so that a victim of police violence would get an unfair treatment.

Her teaching schedule disappeared. Her final exam schedule disappeared. The cheers of the Fox News studio audience disappeared. Accounts of petitions and fundraisers disappeared. And all information about her lawsuit against the NYPD disappeared.

But the Human Rights Watch report on what happened in Mott Haven is still available at their website.

And below is the version that I had hoped to include in Wikipedia. I tried to give her a fair treatment. I included all relevant information. Nothing has disappeared.

While writing, I assumed that the NYPost reports contain a list of facts, but omit context. With that assumption in mind, I searched for the missing context and information. And I found it easily.

Shellyne Rodriguez

Shellyne Rodriguez (born 1977) is an American visual artist, organizer and professor based in the Bronx, New York City.[1][2]

Education

Rodriguez graduated with a BFA in Visual & Critical Studies from the School of Visual Arts in 2011 and an MFA in Fine Art from CUNY Hunter College in 2014.[2]

Artistic practice

In 2014, Rodriguez attended the Shandaken Project Residency in the Catskills of New York.[3] In 2015, she was artist-in-residence in the sculpture department at Hunter College.[4] In 2017, Rodriguez collaborated with the Museum of Modern Art to create the Night Studio program, a free art class for New York City residents in the process of taking the TASC (Test Assessing Secondary Completion, formerly the GED).[5] In 2018, Rodriguez was awarded the Percent for Art public sculpture commission to create a permanent public sculpture in the Bronx. Shellyne stated that the sculpture would serve as "a monument to the people of the Bronx."[6] In 2018, the Whitney Museum of American Art released a video by Rodriguez in which she discussed Ja'Tovia Gary's film An Ecstatic Experience.[7]

In 2019, Rodriguez became the inaugural artist-in-residence at The Latinx Project, an initiative based at NYU that is dedicated to Latinx studies.[8] Rodriguez curated a show centered around ideas of displacement and how it affects the Latinx population in New York. The show included pieces by Rodriguez, Alicia Grullón, and anti-gentrification group Mi Casa No es Su Casa.[8]

Selected exhibition history

  • Siempre En La Calle: Calderón, October 28, 2021 to January 29 2022[9][10]
  • PELEA: Visual Responses to Spatial Precarity, Latinx Project, NYU, 2019; curator: Shellyne Rodriguez[11]
  • BRONX NOW: Bronx River Art Center, July 14 to September 8, 2018; curated by Laura James and Eileen Walsh, who work under the name BXNYCreative[12]
  • Tamir Rice Photo Booth: Window Project, IMI Corona, Queens Museum, 2016; curator: Prerana Reddy[13]

Community organizing

Rodriguez is a community organizer and an active member of the grassroots collective Take Back the Bronx.[2] In March 2019, Rodriguez joined a group of Latinx scholars, artists, and activists in penning and signing a letter to El Museo del Barrio demanding change at the East Harlem institution.[14]

Rodriguez is a member of Decolonize This Place and spoke at the ultimately successful May 2019 protests against Warren B. Kanders, owner of the defense manufacturing company Safariland LLC and then-vice chair of the Whitney Museum of American Art, seeking to remove Kanders from its board.[15]

Writing

Rodriguez has written for multiple publications, including Hyperallergic.[16]

In an essay in which she describes herself as a "black Marxist", Rodriguez criticizes the practice of equating identities with "injury" and awarding "immunity" to people with the most identities, calling it a "lazy politics that doesn't require one to do any critical thinking or political work." She argues that "it is a system based on the state's logic of restitution and punishment, and fundamentally opposed to solidarity." What she prefers instead is political organizing and activity.[17]

The New York Post incident

George Floyd protest video

According to the New York Post, the NYPD arrested Rodriguez in June 2020 during a protest after George Floyd's death. The charges against her were dismissed in September 2020.[18] Human Rights Watch describes the protest at Mott Haven (where the NYPD arrested her) as "among the most aggressive police responses to protests across the United States following the police killing of George Floyd." The organization found that the NYPD planned the assault and mass arrests of peaceful protesters.[19]

The following year, Rodriguez and two other plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against the City and members of the NYPD for long-term injuries suffered as a result of the arrest.[18] According to document 49 of the case, on January 25, 2023, Rodriguez requested the identity of several police officers and video recordings from body worn cameras. After a discovery dispute throughout the month of May 2023, the court on May 31 ordered the defendants to identify the officers and produce the video.[20]

Hunter College videos

Shellyne Rodriguez' Hunter schedule, spring 2023
S.Rodriguez, Hunter schedule, spring 2023
Hunter College final exam schedule, spring 2023
Hunter final exam schedule, spring 2023

During the Spring 2023 semester at Hunter College, Prof. Rodriguez was teaching a combined section of ARTCR 23500 "04 Painting" and ARTCR 33600 "05 Advanced Painting" which met on Tuesdays from 1:10pm to 4:50pm. The section had a combined enrollment of 16 students (11 in Painting and 5 in Advanced Painting).[21]

During the same semester, Students for Life brought their This is Chemical Abortion tour display to Hunter, which the organization describes as one of the "most visceral college campuses"[22] where campus safety officers are a "welcome presence"[23] and where they make videos of the vulgarity directed at them.[22][23][24][25][26]

On Tuesday, May 2, 2023, after pro-life students set up a display in a hallway near Prof. Rodriguez' classroom studio, they recorded her arguing with them and shoving their pamphlets off of a table. In the recording, she said they were "triggering [her] students."[24][27][28][29][30]

After meeting with two members of the Hunter College administration about the matter, Rodriguez apologized.[31] Not satisfied, Students for Life posted the video to Twitter on May 17,[32] to YouTube on May 18[24] and to their website on May 18.[22] According to Hyperallergic, Rodriguez began receiving messages filled with "racial and sexual slurs and threats of death and physical violence."[31]

In accordance with Hunter's final exam schedule, her combined painting section's last class session was on Tuesday May 16 and they should have held their final exam on Tuesday May 23.[33]

Meanwhile as the video gained attention on social media, the New York Post published a story about it on May 22.[34] Then the next morning, on May 23, before Prof. Rodriguez could leave home and travel to Hunter College to give the final exam to her students, a New York Post reporter and a photographer went to her home to interview her and take a photograph of her. Rodriguez refused. According to the reporter's own account of the incident, she told them to "get lost."[35] Instead of leaving, they persisted with their request for an interview. They did not leave until she opened the door, pointed a machete at one and told them to: "Get away from my door! Get the fuck away from my door!"[35] Rodriguez then followed the journalists to their car, where the car's cameras recorded her chasing them with machete in hand.[27][29][35]

The New York Post published a news article about the incident at 1:45pm. In the article, they quoted a Hunter College spokesperson as saying that the college had "taken immediate action" and fired Rodriguez.[36] At 4:18pm, the New York Post published an article about her civil lawsuit against the City and NYPD officers.[18] And later that evening, when the New York Post reporter appeared on Hannity, studio audience members cheered as host Sean Hannity reported that she had been fired.[37]

The next day, May 24, other news outlets, like the BBC, reported that Rodriguez had been fired from Hunter College following the incident with the New York Post reporters.[29][38] And on May 25, Rodriguez was arrested on charges of menacing and harassment[28][27] and fired from her position at the School of Visual Arts.[27]

A petition in support of Prof. Rodriguez drafted by PPOW Gallery co-founder Wendy Olsoff and published by Hyperallergic quickly gathered hundreds of signatures.[39] A coalition petition gathered 1259 signatures.[40] And to support Rodriguez, a committee of artists and educators established a fundraiser which raised $22,000 of its $30,000 goal in its first two weeks.[39]

External links

References

  1. "An Incomplete History of Protest: Shellyne Rodriguez on Ja'Tovia Gary". whitney.org. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  2. Rodriguez, Shellyne. "Shellyne Rodriguez". The New Inquiry. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  3. "Shandaken: Projects | Alumni". www.shandakenprojects.org. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  4. "MFA Program in Studio Art". 205 Hudson. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  5. Zwicky, Calder (2017-11-20). "In The Night Studio". MoMA. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  6. "Shellyne Rodriguez". Bronx 200. 2015-01-25. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  7. "An Incomplete History of Protest: Shellyne Rodriguez on Ja'Tovia Gary". whitney.org.
  8. "9 Art Events in New York This Week: Nari Ward, Jonas Mekas, Judith Linhares, and More". www.mutualart.com. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  9. Durón, Maximilíano (2021-08-18). "New York's Newest Gallery Spotlights Latinx Artists: 'We See the Lack of Representation and the Need for It'". ARTnews.com. Retrieved 2022-01-29.
  10. "Shellyne Rodriguez and Danielle De Jesus: Siempre En La Calle | 28 October 2021 - 29 January 2022". Calderón. Retrieved 2022-01-29.
  11. "PELEA: Visual Responses to Spatial Precarity". wp.nyu.edu. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  12. "Bronx River Art Center :: Gallery :: BRONX NOW". www.bronxriverart.org. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  13. "Queens Museum". Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  14. "'We Need Change Now': Activists Circulate Open Letter on Future of El Museo Del Barrio". www.mutualart.com. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  15. "'You Can't Hide': Protesters March from Whitney to Warren B. Kanders's Home During Biennial Opening". www.mutualart.com. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  16. "The Unbridgeable Chasm Between the Bronx and the Police". Hyperallergic. 2017-03-21. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
  17. Rodriguez, Shellyne (June 20, 2019). "Two Readings on Mistaken Identity". ASAP/Journal. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
  18. Fenton, Reuven; Campanile, Carl; Crane, Emily (May 23, 2023). "Shellyne Rodriguez, NYC college professor who threatened Post reporter with machete, is fired as her lawsuit against NYPD emerges". New_York_Post. 4:18pm. Archived from the original on June 4, 2023. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  19. "US: New York Police Planned Assault on Bronx Protesters". Human Rights Watch. September 30, 2020. Archived from the original on August 3, 2023. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
  20. "Rodriguez et al v. City of New York et al". CourtListener. Dec 16, 2021.
  21. "Global Class Search" (PDF). CUNYfirst Global Search - Class Schedule. City University of New York. Archived from the original on August 6, 2023. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  22. Stancavage, Dana (May 18, 2023). "VIDEO: Fetusphobic Professor Becomes Unhinged Over Peaceful Pro-life Students on Campus, Destroys Display". Students for Life of America. Archived from the original on June 5, 2023. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  23. Wharton, Caroline (May 8, 2023). "WATCH: Pro-Abortion New York College Student Steals Fetal Model, Chews it Up, & Paints Fake Blood on It". Students for Life of America. Archived from the original on June 8, 2023. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  24. "The ANGRIEST Pro-Choice Teacher FLIPS OUT At Pro-Life Students : Hunter College". Students for Life of America. May 18, 2023. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  25. "This Crazed Pro-Abort Chewed On Our Fetal Models!". Students for Life of America. May 5, 2023. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  26. "Laura Ingraham Slams Crazed Pro-Abortion Teacher"." Students for Life of America. May 23, 2023. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  27. Richardson, Kemberly (May 25, 2023). "Hunter College professor arrested after threatening NY Post reporter with machete". WABC-TV / AP. American Broadcasting Company (ABC), a division of The Walt Disney Company. Archived from the original on May 25, 2023. Retrieved May 28, 2023.
  28. Greenberger, Alex (May 26, 2023). "Artist Shellyne Rodriguez Charged with Menacing and Harassment After Incident Involving Reporter". ARTnews. Art Media, LLC. Archived from the original on May 26, 2023. Retrieved May 28, 2023.
  29. Kim, Chloe (May 24, 2023). "US professor fired after machete threat to New York Post reporter". BBC. Archived from the the original on May 24, 2023. Retrieved May 24, 2023.
  30. Blaff, Ari (May 23, 2023). "'F***ing Propaganda': CUNY College Professor Destroys Pro-Life Table at Hunter College". National Review. Archived from the original on 28 May 2023. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
  31. Nayyar, Rhea; Di Liscia, Valentina (May 24, 2023). "School Fires Arts Professor Who Confronted Anti-Abortion Group". Hyperallergic. Archived from the original on July 6, 2023. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  32. Students for Life of America [@StudentsforLife] (May 17, 2023). "Pro-Abortion Teacher Vandalizes Pro-Life Student Table" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  33. "Final Exam Schedule Spring 2023" Hunter College, CUNY. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 6, 2023. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  34. Griffin, Allie (May 22, 2023). "NYC college professor Shellyne Rodriguez cursed out anti-abortion students tabling at school". New_York_Post. 11:39pm. Archived from the original on June 1, 2023. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  35. Fenton, Reuven (May 24, 2023). "EXCLUSIVE: Post Reporter Threatened by NYC Professor with Machete Tells All". New York Post. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
  36. Fenton, Reuven; Crane, Emily (May 23, 2023). "Shellyne Rodriguez, Unhinged NYC college professor who cursed out anti-abortion students, holds machete to Post reporter's neck". New_York_Post. 1:45pm. Archived from the original on June 18, 2023. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  37. Hannity, Sean (May 23, 2023). "New York Post reporter not sure whether he'll press charges against machete-wielding professor". Fox News. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  38. Hippensteel, Chris (May 23, 2023). "NYC Professor Threatens to 'Chop Up' New York Post Reporter With Machete". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on May 24, 2023. Retrieved May 24, 2023.
  39. Di Liscia, Valentina (June 9, 2023). "Hundreds Sign Petition in Support of Artist Shellyne Rodriguez". Hyperallergic. Archived from the original on July 7, 2023. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
  40. FEAS Frente Hermanas Amor y Solidaridad. "Protect Adjunct Professor Rodriguez Now!". Archived from the original on June 12, 2023. Retrieved July 22, 2023.