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Boston Globe
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Ronald Goldfarb, legal reformer who battled Mafia for RFK, dies at 91
Many of his nearly a dozen books stemmed from work done by his Washington law firm, which specialized in public interest cases, taking on subjects such as farm laborer rights in 'Migrant Farm Workers: A Caste of Despair' (1981) and the penal system in 'After Conviction: A Review of the American Correction System' (1973), written with law partner Linda Singer. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Following the leaks of National Security Agency files by contractor Edward Snowden in 2013, Mr. Goldfarb edited essays from policy experts and ethicists for the 2015 book 'After Snowden: Privacy, Secrecy and Security in the Information Age.' Advertisement 'National security and constitutional liberty are not an either-or proposition,' Mr. Goldfarb said at the Miami Book Fair that year, 'but we have to strike an exquisite balance.' His time in the Justice Department under Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy also came to represent competing priorities, he contended. Mr. Goldfarb was recruited in 1961 and assigned to the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section — a once tiny unit that grew to more than 70 members under RFK. Advertisement Meanwhile, President John F. Kennedy had ordered an all-out effort to depose Cuban leader Fidel Castro after the calamitous Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961. The anti-Castro plans, overseen by Robert Kennedy, included the CIA seeking possible hit men among mobsters, who were eager to bring back their gambling operations in Cuba, according to later disclosures by congressional investigations and leaked documents. 'They thought they could burn their candle at both ends, and both work with the Mafia at the same time that we were harassing them, and prosecuting them, and investigating them and making their lives miserable,' Mr. Goldfarb told an audience in Alexandria, Va., in 2002. This double standard became one of subplots in Mr. Goldfarb's 'Perfect Villains, Imperfect Heroes: Robert F. Kennedy's War Against Organized Crime' (1995), a part memoir and part analysis of RFK's single-minded drive to mobilize federal law enforcement agencies against the Cosa Nostra and others. Mr. Goldfarb's path to the Justice Department began with a chance meeting. He had come to Washington to pay a social visit to Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black. On the way, Mr. Goldfarb stopped to see a law school friend, who introduced him to a recruiter for RFK's team. His pitch to Mr. Goldfarb was direct: Toss out your plans to go into academia and stay in the courtroom. Mr. Goldfarb had served in the Judge Advocate General's Corps, or JAG Corps, in the Air Force defending airmen in court-martial hearings and other cases. 'And I ended up in the 'New Frontier,'' he said, using a term coined to describe the youthful President Kennedy and his policies. Advertisement Mr. Goldfarb, however, was initially wary of RFK over his past work. In the early 1950s, Robert Kennedy was assistant counsel for the 'Red Scare' subcommittee led by Senator Joseph McCarthy, a Wisconsin Republican, that waged career-crushing inquests into suspected communist sympathizers. 'I just thought, like other people, that he was brash, and a bully, and that it was strictly nepotism that he was made attorney general,' Mr. Goldfarb told the Washington City Paper. But he soon began to admire Robert Kennedy's uncompromising style, he said. Mr. Goldfarb was sent to Newport, Ky., a Cincinnati suburb he described as a 'classic sin city' that at the time was notorious for its political corruption and mob-run vice. Mr. Goldfarb aided in investigations that led to the conviction of nearly the entire Newport city government and dozens of others. He also worked closely with the county's reform-minded sheriff, George Ratterman, a former professional football player who had been drugged and photographed in bed with a stripper in a blackmail attempt during the campaign for sheriff in 1961. The caper was exposed and Ratterman surged to victory. The crime syndicates in northern Kentucky eventually moved out. In his book, Mr. Goldfarb adopted much of RFK's views that organized crime was a direct threat to the rule of law and confidence in the political system. 'These were predators, often totally asocial animals, who preyed on society, had no socially redeeming ends, who used the vilest means to get their way, and whose actions, if unchecked, would lead to anarchy,' he wrote. 'They were perfect villains.' Advertisement Yet Mr. Goldfarb also recounted RFK's shortcomings, which included an obsessive pursuit of Teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa. Hoffa was convicted in 1964 of jury tampering and other charges and began serving a 13-year sentence in 1967. (The sentence was commuted in 1971 by President Richard M. Nixon and Hoffa was last seen in 1975, but details of his presumed slaying remained unsolved.) On Nov. 22, 1963, Mr. Goldfarb was part of a meeting with Robert Kennedy that ended shortly before lunch. About an hour later, news broke that President Kennedy had been shot while his motorcade drove through Dallas. For decades, Mr. Goldfarb staked out a position at odds with the Warren Commission's conclusion that the gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald, acted alone in a self-hatched plot. In his book and later articles, Mr. Goldfarb left open the possibility that organized crime bosses — angered by RFK's crusading fervor — had a hand in planning the JFK assassination. 'The most compelling evidence concerns conversations among leading organized crime figures in 1962 and 1963 who were outraged by [Robert] Kennedy's crusade against them,' Mr. Goldfarb wrote in a 1995 opinion piece in The Washington Post. 'There was a conspiracy to kill the attorney general; there is ominous evidence that they switched their wrath to the president.' His stance brought some derision from book reviewers even as his profile was raised among JFK conspiracy theorists. Mr. Goldfarb remained unmoved but conceded that too much time had passed to either validate or debunk his speculation. 'There is a haunting credibility to the theory that our organized crime drive prompted a plan to strike back at the Kennedy brothers,' he wrote, 'and that Robert Kennedy went to his grave at least wondering whether — and perhaps believing — there was a real connection between the plan and his brother's assassination.' Advertisement Ronald Lawrence Goldfarb was born in Jersey City on Oct. 16, 1933, and was raised in North Bergen. His father was a building manager, and his mother cared for their home. At Syracuse University, Mr. Goldfarb was part of a law-school-track program, finishing his undergraduate studies in 1954 and receiving a law degree in 1956. After serving in the Air Force JAG Corps for three years, he enrolled at Yale Law School for advanced legal degrees. Robert Kennedy resigned as attorney general in September 1964, and Mr. Goldfarb joined him as speechwriter in a long-shot — but ultimately successful — run for US Senate in New York, defeating the incumbent Republican, Kenneth Keating, that November. 'My personal contacts with him, especially after his brother was killed, showed him to be a very tortured human being feeling very human things and not at all the machinelike person that he was depicted as,' Mr. Goldfarb said in a 1981 oral history for the John F. Kennedy Library. Mr. Goldfarb formed his law practice, Goldfarb & Associates, in 1966. Two years later, as Kennedy campaigned in the Democratic presidential primaries, Mr. Goldfarb planned to seek a seat as a New Jersey delegate for Kennedy at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. 'And before I could do anything,' Mr. Goldfarb recalled, 'he was killed.' Kennedy was shot on June 5, 1968, as he was leaving the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, shortly after winning California's Democratic presidential primary. He died the next day. The gunman, Sirhan Sirhan, remains in prison. Advertisement Mr. Goldfarb's other books include 'The Contempt Power' (1963) about use of contempt of court provisions; 'Ransom: A Critique of the American Bail System' (1966) and 'TV or Not TV: Television, Justice, and the Courts' (1998). As a documentary producer, he helped develop 'Desperate Hours' (2001), an account of Turkey's role in rescuing Jewish refugees during the Holocaust, directed by Victoria Barrett. Survivors include his wife of 68 years, Joanne Jacob Goldfarb; sons Nick and Matt; daughter Jody; and seven grandchildren. In 1963, the Mississippi governor, Ross R. Barnett, was charged with federal criminal contempt for obstructing court orders to desegregate the University of Mississippi. Barnett's supporters in Congress cited passages from Mr. Goldfarb's book 'The Contempt Power' to claim judicial overreach. Mr. Goldfarb was so troubled that he asked for a meeting with Robert Kennedy to apologize. Kennedy listened and then asked Mr. Goldfarb to sign a copy of his book. (The charges against Barnett were dropped years later.) 'Instead of it being a heavy moment where conceivably he was going to ask for my resignation,' he recalled in the 1981 oral history, 'it converted into an act of friendship.'
Miami Herald
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Miami Herald
Little Haiti Book Fest to explore gentrification and immigration
Miami's Little Haiti is known for the vibrancy of its pastel murals and the rhythmic sounds of music filling the air. On Sunday, May 4, during Haitian Heritage Month, a quieter expression of Haitian identity will take center stage: the written word. This year, the 11th edition of the Little Haiti Book Festival at the Little Haiti Cultural Complex will offer more than books; tightly woven into event programming are themes of community displacement and immigration instability. Founded in 2014 by Jean-Marie Willer Denis—better known as Jean Mapou, owner of the bookstore Libreri Mapou—the book festival began after the Haitian poet and playwright took a trip to Haiti, where he discovered a book fair called 'Livres en folie' (Book Madness).' He got the idea to replicate the initiative in Miami under the Haitian Creole moniker 'Foli Liv nan Ti Ayiti (Book Madness in Little Haiti)' and the English designation 'Little Haiti Book Fair.' 'At the time, I was serving on the board of the Miami Book Fair International, and as I compared the two fairs—the one in Haiti and the one in Miami—I saw room for improvement. For example, I noticed that the Miami Book Fair could feature more Haitian authors to become truly international,' says Mapou. At his urging, Mapou says, the Miami Book Fair added a section called ReadCaribbean that featured Caribbean and Haitian authors. Still, he believed a dedicated Haitian book fair was necessary. With the support of Sosyete Koukouy (Firefly Society), a cultural organization devoted to preserving Haitian culture in the United States, he launched his own. 'After three years, in 2017, Miami Book Fair joined us and supported us in terms of logistics, and we decided to rename it 'Little Haiti Book Festival' because of the festive aspect of it and because it was more than a book fair.' The festival has grown in scope, attracting both local and diaspora authors and expanding its footprint through workshops, dance, music, and panel discussions. This year's edition reflects deeper anxieties about gentrification and immigration uncertainty. 'Little Haiti is shrinking more and more and we're becoming a small neighborhood sandwiched between the big developers' projects,' says Mapou. The concern over gentrification isn't new, but it's becoming more urgent. Luxury condos and high-end developments have accelerated property value hikes, slowly displacing the very community that gives Little Haiti its name. This year, a panel titled 'The Future of Little Haiti' at noon on Sunday, May 4, is to tackle these tensions head-on. Organized in collaboration with the Miami Book Fair, the conversation explores how the neighborhood might preserve its character amid redevelopment. 'Community members will examine what preservation, policy, and place-making really mean,' says Michele Jessica ('M.J. Fievre') Logan, coordinator of ReadCaribbean and a representative of Miami Book Fair. 'It's less about adding for the sake of novelty and more about staying rooted while evolving.' There's not a singular theme for this year's book festival, but if one idea should thread this year's programming together, it would be the concept of 'dwelling,' according to Logan. 'Dwelling, not only in a physical space, like Little Haiti, but in memory, in language, in cultural identity. How do we inhabit spaces that are constantly shifting? How do we carry tradition forward without making it rigid?' Alongside gentrification, immigration policy looms over the event. The festival will respond with a panel titled 'Retounen Lakay (Going Back Home): Protected Status, Policy Shifts, And Deportation' featuring legal experts such as Ariol Eugene, Paul Christian Namphy, and Ira Kurzban, known for decades of advocacy on Haitian immigration issues. 'There is panic in Haiti and panic in the U.S.,' says Mapou. 'So, we invited experts who will talk about the consequences of the mass deportations on Haiti and the U.S., and their consequences on our social lives.' The author of 'Happy, Okay,' a collection of poems about anxiety, depression, hope and survival, Logan says that poetry, dance and a mural project, in addition to the panel discussions, will all circle back to the same questions. Despite some heavy topics, the atmosphere at the festival will remain lively and intergenerational, with an emphasis on youth programming. 'Children are not an afterthought at this festival—they are its pulse,' says Logan. Mapou echoed the sentiment. 'The children's section is very important to us because our generation is gradually fading, and we want to pass on our culture to the new generation so that it doesn't disappear.' To that end, Children's Alley will feature activities that blend tradition and learning: puzzles teaching about Haitian landmarks, traditional games being revived, and art projects inspired by cultural symbols like the turtle—a metaphor for migration and endurance—brought to life by Solanges Vivens, LHD, and artist Asser Saint-Val. While international authors from Haiti are likely to remain largely absent—due to ongoing violence and limited air travel—U.S.-based authors will step in to fill the gap. Attendees can expect new or returning titles from writers such as Kiki Wainwright, Lyonel Gerdes, Irsa Vieux, Isabelle Camille, Pascal Millien, Marie Ketsia Theodore-Pharel, Michèle Jeanmarie, Lola Passe, Keneisha Harding, and Annick Duvivier. More than 30 authors will be present at the Little Haiti Cultural Center and the Caribbean Marketplace (Mache Ayisyen) to showcase and sign their books. Among the authors feature first-time participants debuting children's books, poetry collections, and bilingual storytelling rooted in Haitian traditions. 'These authors represent a vibrant cross-section of Haitian and Haitian-American voices, many of whom are self-published or running independent presses. Their books appear in English, French, and Haitian Creole, reflecting the multilingual nature of our festival and community,' says Logan. Throughout the day, workshops will offer creative outlets in dance, poetry, and drama. One will feature playwright Florence Jean-Louis Dupuy, who is known in Haiti for her Creole adaptation of Eve Ensler's 'The Vagina Monologues.' Another will be an ekphrastic poetry workshop, where participants will write poems inspired by visual art. Dupuy, whose contributions to Haitian theater span decades, will co-lead at the festival an interactive theater workshop. 'Those who participate in the workshop can expect to have fun, to come out of themselves, to overcome their shyness and to be introduced to the theatrical discipline,' she says. Amid the celebration, this year's festival will include tributes to recently deceased Haitian literary figures such as authors Frankétienne, Anthony Phelps, Max Manigat, and Alphonse Férère. 'We've lost some of the finest voices in Haitian literature,' says Mapou, author of 'DPM Kannte – The Plight of the Haitian Refugees.' The Little Haiti Book Festival has evolved over the years. It grew from humble beginnings—when organizers borrowed folding chairs, passed around plates of food,—into a staple of the Haitian literary community that, as Mapou notes, has brought greater exposure to the Little Haiti neighborhood thanks to its association to the Miami Book Fair. Beyond cultural pride, the festival also brings tangible benefits, says Mapou. 'Economically, the annual book festival helps a lot in terms of book sales. Some writers sell books for more than $700. The festival has a tangible impact among Haitian authors. They find a place to present their books to the Haitian community instead of putting them in places where no one cares.' Logan highlights that the festival is not just a platform but a way of connecting. 'The festival is a bridge—between Little Haiti and the diaspora, between past and future, between Miami and the world.' She adds, 'We want stories to be remembered, rituals to be honored, and emerging voices to have room to grow. We aren't exporting culture, we're extending it.' If you go: WHAT: Little Haiti Book Festival 2025 WHEN: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday, May 4. WHERE: Little Haiti Cultural Complex, 212 NE 59th Terrace, Miami COST: Free INFORMATION: 305-237-7258 or is a nonprofit source of theater, dance, visual arts, music and performing arts news. Sign up for our newsletter and never miss a story.
Miami Herald
17-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Miami Herald
Piano Slam: Sounds of the future, music of the present and past
Poetry combined with hip-hop, classical and pop music has young poets competing for prizes from $100 to $1,000 at this year's Dranoff 2 Piano Fusion 'Piano Slam.' The music-poetry mashup is at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts on Wednesday, April 23. Since its inception in 2007, Piano Slam has been a platform for young poets in Miami-Dade County to merge their creative writing with classical and contemporary music. 'It is a fully STEM-integrated creative writing program in schools inspired by music,' says Emily Cardenas, executive director of Dranoff 2 Piano Fusion, adding that for audiences it is a 'dynamic, professional show.' A curriculum is periodically adapted in collaboration with Miami-Dade County Public School educators and administrators in line with the annual theme and integrated into classroom activities. The districtwide poetry competition was open to all students in Miami-Dade County's middle and high schools. Finalists have already been selected. Behind Piano Slam is Dranoff 2 Piano Fusion. Founded in 1987 by Loretta Dranoff, the organization was originally known as the Murray Dranoff International Foundation and focused on promoting the two-piano artform through an international competition. As the global landscape for piano duos expanded, the foundation shifted its focus under the leadership of Carlene Sawyer, leading to the creation of Piano Slam, according to Cardenas. The program's name draws inspiration from slam, the performance-based poetry movement that emerged in the 1980s. 'It is a form of performance poetry that combines the elements of performance, writing, competition, and audience participation and it is presented at events called poetry slams. Since Dranoff has its origins in classical piano music, the decision was made to fuse the words piano with slam to create Piano Slam,' explains Cardenas. This year's theme, 'Music of My Past … Sounds of the Future,' challenges students to explore their cultural musical heritage while envisioning the future. Part of the program requires students to integrate music and science terms into their poetry writing. 'The program inspires confidence and self-expression; it propels students to believe in the power of their opinions and express them in a creative way,' says Cardenas. Brenis Bostick, a former student at Miami Norland Senior High and now an English Creative Writing major at the University of Miami, was a finalist in the 2020 Piano Slam competition with his poem 'Mother Miami.' He reflects on how deeply the program influenced his life. 'The Piano Slam program was a turning point in my life—it truly saved me; this opportunity arrived during one of the darkest periods I've faced,' he shares. For the first time, Piano Slam will have a live judging panel led by presidential poet laureate Richard Blanco and including Haitian American poet Mecca 'Grimo' Marcelin, Miami-Dade poet laureate Caridad Moro-Gronlier and Miami Book Fair executive director Lissette Mendez. 'Poetry and music are kindred spirits, having the two come together will be magical,' says Blanco. He emphasizes the importance of live performance in capturing the essence of a poem. 'No matter what, there's nothing like hearing a poem recited. When we hear a poem out loud, especially in the voice of the poet, we catch all the nuances, cadences, pauses, etc. that make the poem come alive in a new way,' he explains. Blanco adds that his role would involve balancing the technical merits of the written work with the emotional impact of its performance. He also shares his expectations of the contestants. 'Poems can be over-performed. I'm looking for honest performances—that is to say performances that are informed by real and honest emotions. Not merely performances for the sake of performance. That can come across as disingenuous.' Director Teo Castellanos, returning after a seven-year hiatus from Piano Slam, discussed the unique challenges of directing an event that fuses live music with spoken word poetry. 'The challenge is working with non-traditionally trained performers. I'm speaking of the students, not the professional musicians, dancers, choreographers or adult poets,' he says. Despite having only about 10 days to work with the students, Castellanos finds the experience 'exciting' as it brings together professionals and young talent. He noted that the involvement of experienced coaches and musicians helps elevate the performances. The musical direction of the show is led by Martin Bejerano, a Miami-born Afro-Cuban jazz pianist. He outlines his approach to blending classical, jazz, and pop music elements for the show. 'We have a collaborative approach to picking both the classical and other contemporary music selections, as well as blending or 'mashing' them together,' he says. Bejerano detailed the musical selections, noting that the event will feature works by composers such as Mozart, Ravel, Stravinsky, Chopin, and Gershwin alongside contemporary tracks by Kendrick Lamar, Bad Bunny, Coldplay, Billie Eilish, and Sly and the Family Stone. 'The music of our youth will one day become the music of our past, and thus, the popular music we feature from today will one day be the sounds of these students' past,' he says. Bejerano further emphasizes that the music is designed 'to create a special vibe for each poem,' ensuring that the powerful spoken word performances remain at the forefront. Piano Slam combines classical and contemporary elements in a way that aligns with Dranoff 2 Piano Fusion's broader mission to bring together different cultural expressions through the arts, according to Cardenas. 'Piano Slam . . . gives them a voice they didn't know they had' while also providing 'valuable exposure of classical music to young people who have never experienced it or who have had little appreciation for it until now.' To the student performing, Castellanos advises, 'Dig. Dig into your soul. Express yourself to your fullest capability. Never mind being judged. Do you, and have fun doing it.' If you go: WHAT: Piano Slam 2025 WHEN: 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 23 WHERE: Adrienne Arsht Center's Knight Concert Hall, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami COST: Free with reservation; $80 VIP Seating and After Party INFORMATION: 305-572-9900 or is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music, and more. Don't miss a story at
