Co-founder of Moral Monday Movement shares gospel of political action
COMMUNITY Compiled by MCJ Staff
In 2013, civil rights activists gathered in North Carolina for the very first Moral Monday. That state’s legislature was passing a series of bills to crush working people, and it was time to say "no more."
What began with dozens of people has since grown into peaceful protests of hundreds upon thousands. When state Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II stresses a point legislatures began following the lead of North Carolina, during a community roundtable the day be- activists in those states rose up as well, and demanded fore he conducted a Moral Monday training their elected officials work for the people, not against session Saturday, June 14. (Kemp photo)
VOL. XXXVIII Number 47 June 18, 2014
The Milwaukee
JOURNAL
sion by a statewide progressive coalition of labor, social them. Six states now have Moral Monday movements. Make that seven with the recent inclusion of Wisconsin, justice, religious and community leaders. This type of coalition, Barber said during a community which held the first ever Moral Monday Movement training session in the state Saturday, June 14, at the Milwau- round table and news conference last Friday at the Martin kee Area Labor Council offices on South Hawley Road. Luther King Drive offices of the Milwaukee NAACP— The training session was conducted by Moral Mon- which must include young, old, Black, White, Latino and day’s co-founder Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, president Asian—can bring to bear the type of collective moral of the North Carolina Conference of the NAACP. His power and influence to defeat the extreme right Conserpresence in Milwaukee was at the request of the Wiscon- vative agenda that is running roughshod over state politics sin NAACP State Conference of Branches. and legislatures across the nation, particularly in the This past April, the NAACP of Wisconsin became the South and parts of the West, Midwest and East. first Northern NAACP state conference to officially beWith the backing of Tea Party extremist, right-wing come a member of the Moral Monday Movement. (continued on page 3) The NAACP was joined at the Saturday training seswww.communityjournal.net 25 Cents BULK RATE U.S. POSTAGE PAID MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN PERMIT NO. 4668
GIVING,INBLACKANDWHITE!
W I S C O N S I N ’ S L A R G E S T A F R I C A N A M E R I C A N N E W S PA P E R
Corporations make sizable contributions to Milwaukee Urban League and the Community
Four of Milwaukee’s leading corporations gave generously again to the Milwaukee Urban League during the 29th Annual Black and White Ball held last Saturday at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. A total of $176,000 was donated by the Potawatomi Bingo Casino Foundation, WE Energies, MillerCoors Brewing Co., and Chase Bank. These gifts will go to fueling the MUL’s educational, employment, and economic development programs that have helped the community for 95 years. For example, in 2013, the MUL helped hundreds of youth celebrate educational achievements and helped several hundreds individuals prepare for and identify jobs that pay livable wages. The MUL Black and White Ball is the organization’s largest major fundraiser. This year’s entertainment was the R&B group, “After Seven.” See more photos of this year’s ball on page two. (Photos by Yvonne Kemp)
PULSE OF THE COMMUNITY Photos and question by Yvonne Kemp
MICHELLE CROCKETT: “A long-term financial commitment from the overall community.”
The original “Homerun King” Henry (Hammerin’ Hank) Aaron beams proudly as he holds his plaque bearing his image and his accomplishments as a baseball player and Milwaukee Brewer during the recently held “Brewers Wall of Honor” unveiling ceremonies at Miller Park. The newly unveiled wall commemorates Brewer players based on their service to the club. A total of 36 former Brewer players attended the ceremony, making it the largest single gathering of Brewers alumni in team history, surpassing 31 players who came for the final game at County Stadium in 2000. (Photo by Yvonne Kemp)
QUESTION OF THE WEEK: “We asked four attendees of last weekend’s MUL Black and White Ball what they think needs to be done to guarantee a yearly and stable African World Festival, which has again been canceled for this year?”
BARBARA ROBINSON: “In order to guarantee a yearly African World Festival, we as a whole African American community need to come together and fight and support what it takes, and that’s togetherness.”
KERRY FLOWERS: “I believe better planning should be done to ensure a successful event. There most be inclusion of all people and groups that are connected to the African culture.”
JOHNNY L. MILLER: “We need to make African World Festival a destination point for all people from Racine and Chicago, and other cities. This will bring more people to the event. Second, I would like us to create a fund to raise money from local corporations and small companies.”
Brewers help dedicate renovated baseball field
Still “Hot to Trot”: Sex and Seniors
By Kathy Gaillard
“One recent, unprecedented study conducted of older adults and sex reveals that many seniors are not only sexually frisky, but also willing to engage in intimacy and discuss it with others. For some younger folks that may be TMI (too much information), but it’s true!”
Honoring “The Hammer”
It is time to dispel some of the myths about sex and aging. Society tends to place a stigma on older adults who talk about or engage in sex, sometimes referring to them derogatorily as horny old broads or dirty old men. Consequently, sexual intimacy among older Americans is a subject that many people avoid. The silence, say experts, allows misconceptions and myths to breed -- including the widespread assumption that seniors lose interest in sex and are, or should be, asexual. Recent studies are helping to dispel those myths. Some of the myths that are associated with the subject of sex and aging include: • Impotence is a natural consequence of aging. • Sexual activity can be dangerous for the elderly.
Milwaukee Brewers stars Rickie Weeks (left) and Khris Davis (right) threw out the first pitch to dedicate a newly renovated baseball field at Sherman Park, 3000 N. Sherman Blvd. The duo was also joined by former Brewers great Larry Hisle. With the help of the Brewers Community Foundation, the renovated diamond will host youth baseball and softball games adjacent to the Mary Ryan Boys and Girls Club. (Kemp photo)
GOLDEN YEARS
• The sex drive or libido diminishes with advancing years for both men and women. One recent, unprecedented study conducted of older adults and sex reveals that many seniors are not only sexually frisky, but also willing to engage in intimacy and discuss it with others. For some younger folks that may be TMI (too much information), but it’s true! In the most comprehensive sex survey ever conducted
among 57 to 85 year olds in the United States, while sex and interest in it may wane when seniors are in their 70s, more than a quarter of those reported having sex up to age 85. The study, which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2013, surveyed some 3,000 men and women across the country. It involved a two-hour, face-to-face interview and taking blood, saliva and other samples to determine hormone levels. Some of the surprising results are that: • Seniors whose health was excellent or very good were twice as likely to be sexually active as those in poor or fair health. • Women were less likely to be sexually active then men, but they also lacked partners because far more women than
(continued on page 7)
PHOTOP
The Milwaukee Community Journal June 18, 2014 Page 2
From the Black and White Ball • Saturday, June 14, 2014 • BMO Harris Bradley Cntr
Photos by Yvonne Kemp
PERSPECTIVES
The Milwaukee Community Journal June 18, 2014 Page 3
In honor of Black Music Month... QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “I was born with music inside me. It
was a force already within me when I arrived on the scene. It was a necessity for me--like food or water.”--Ray Charles
Black media still important...and needed...in what has become a 24/7 instant news world
On radio station WNOV earlier this week, talk show host Sherwin Hughes asked a rhetorical question: What good are Black radio talk shows--like his and the former WMCS AM 1290 talk shows by Eric Von and Earl Ingram-to Milwaukee’s Black community? Or, for that matter, any Black community across the country? The same question can be asked about the Black press--the Black media in general? Hughes answered his own question by saying Black radio talk shows--and Black news media-are important because they are the ONLY vehicles of positive, accurate and factual news and information pertaining to Black Americans (such as this newspaper you are now holding and reading). As we all know and see every day and night on our televisions at 12 noon, six p.m. and 10 p.m. (the news hours in Milwaukee), the white media (also known as the “mainstream media”) reports the negative and controversial aspects of Black life in Milwaukee. The only time they print the positive is when it’s something extraordinary or “unheard of,” as if something “good in the hood” occurs about as often as a solar eclipse. A case in point. An activist in Racine, Wisconsin sent a letter to the MCJ describing the recently held “State of Black Racine Community Town Hall Meeting” between that city’s Black civil rights leadership and clergy, and government and business leaders and power brokers (mostly white) about the challenges people of color face in Racine and the need to as he put it, “create a culture of change.” The audience was also diverse, ethnically and demographically. Even state officials who represent the region were in attendance. “The only thing ‘missing in action’ from the community town hall meeting in action was the
Ray Charles
Racine Journal Times Newspaper,” the activist noted. He added: “The Journal Times failed again as they have so many times in the past to provide news coverage on significant events in the minority community choosing rather to write stories and publish news that creates a dismal and inferior image of the African American community.” For Black Milwaukeeans, that discription of the Racine daily paper mirrors this city’s daily as it relates to its attitude toward our community. We’re quite sure the Black papers in Racine covered the town hall meeting and broke down and interpreted its nuiances and what steps need to be taken to improve opportunities in that city for people of color. That’s the job of Black media--be it radio, newspapers or Black news websites and blogs: Interpret the news from a Black perspective and how it will impact our people today and tomorrow, while providing ideas to solve the social ills that plague us. And given today’s instant, insistant and constant 24/7 news cycle (including Facebook and Twitter, which have become the new vehicles to deliver news and information), we need Black media to champion our causes more now then at any time since man began to write and the Black press was founded in Philadelphia in 1827. You can count on this newspaper and the other two Black papers--and the only remaining Black radio station with a talk show format, WNOV--in this community to “plead our own cause.” As we said in an editorial last year after the demise of 1290 WMCS and people in our community began to question the continued viability of Black Milwaukee media, we plan to be here--for you--for a very, very long, long time! We will continue to “feel the pulse” of our community and report to you the status of that pulse’s beat!
Ruby Dee’s passing brings back memories of how it used to be Remember when…
By Richard G. Carter
prison ward of a hospital for a gunSidney Poitier and Ruby Dee shot wound, the sneering Widmark “Brooklyn hearts today have in the iconic Black film, subjects Poitier to vile racial slurs. To skipped more beats than an absent“A Raisin in the Sun.” avenge the death of his brother, who minded policeman”…Sam Balter, succumbs after being treated by “The Jackie Robinson Story” (1950) Poitier, he creates a race riot in what The recent death at 91, of iconic they call “Niggertown.” Black actress Ruby Dee -- who origIn a sympathetic role as Poitier’s inally burst on the scene in early, sister, Dee urges him to eschew viopowerful movies about racial dislence after he later is beaten by Widcrimination -- recalls a time when mark. But she cannot prevent the stinging film dramas of Black-White searing racial conflagration. racial conflict caused a stir throughIn the gritty “Edge of the City,” out America. Dee supports her dock worker husMany hit the screens in the postband (Poitier) in battling waterfront World War II years when thousands corruption on the West Side of Manof Black military veterans came hattan. But she never trusts his new, home to encounter renewed bigotry White fellow worker friend (John despite serving their country with Cassavetes). courage and honor. Dee brought a Poitier joins forces with Cassavetes -- an army deserter -- in confronting sense of steadfast understanding and dignity in portraying the wives and sisa racist union racketeer (Jack Warden), who extorts money from Cassavetes. ters of such disillusioned, often broken men. In 1963, Sidney Poitier raved to me about Dee during my Milwaukee He also opposes integrating the docks and Cassavetes ultimately urges Poitier Star interview with him at the Varsity theater in Milwaukee following a show- to fight Warden. Although exuding enviable strength in dealing with their lower-class ciring of his Oscar-winning role in “Lilies of the Field.” And in 1991 -- when I got a chance to meet her, and her late actor husband, Ossie Davis in Brooklyn cumstances, Dee later accuses Cassavetes of never being Poitier’s friend, after he watches her husband killed by the bullying Warden in a bailing hook bat-- she was effusive in returning the compliment. When Hollywood began to deal seriously with the problem of race in the tle. Dee’s greatest role was as Poitier’s long suffering wife in “A Raisin in the late 1940s, segregation was still a way of life in much of the country. This was graphically demonstrated in three early “race films” in which Dee played Sun.” Struggling in their cramped, Chicago apartment shared by his mother memorable roles: “No Way Out” (1950); “Edge of the City” (1957), and “A (Claudia McNeil), sister (Diana Sands) and their son (Stephen Perry), Dee finally falters as Poitier grates while seeking to quit his job as a chauffeur. Raisin in the Sun” (1961). After being bilked out of half of his late father’s life insurance payout in a The raw “No Way Out” is the story of an idealistic young Black doctor (Poitier), and virulent bigot (Richard Widmark). As Poitier treats him in the (continued on page 7)
Moral Monday co-founder shares gospel of political action
*continued from page 1) conservative talk radio and cable television news, as well as the financial support of corporations headed by extremist conservative businessmen, Republican governors and legislatures have been turning back the clock. Once they had assumed office during the conservative sweep of state elections a little over four years ago, the conservative legislatures and governors quickly passed legislation crippling, if not destroying: The collective bargaining rights of labor unions, abortion rights by limiting the ability of doctors and clinics to perform them, placing on voters restrictive voting rights measures that included requiring photo IDs and limiting voting hours and days. Barber shared with the gathering some background of the movement he helped start in North Carolina, which had echoes of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950 and 60s. Barber said the North Carolina’s Moral Movement message was simple but direct: Kicking hard-working people when they're down is not just bad policy, it's against the common good and disregards human rights. It is a refusal to lean to
the better angels of ourselves. By limiting voting rights, taking away collective bargaining and limiting abortion rights, the Conservative right is hell-bent on pushing through bills to slash Medicaid, raise taxes on the working and the poor, cripple education, deny rights to workers, women, and the LGBT community. Giving what sounded like a preview of what he shared on Saturday, Barber stressed you don’t have to win everybody over to your cause in order to win. “Just a few people can impact what you’re doing,” Barber said. “You don’t have to have someone with you all the way; just on a few things that can advance your common agenda.” The North Carolina NAACP president said it is important to stress the moral argument in winning allies and unifying groups to a cause: Protecting the rights of individuals and groups as it relates to the precepts of the U.S. Constitution. “You bring divergent groups around a common agenda from a moral perspective,” stressed. Barber called Milwaukee the “Selma of the North” (Selma being Selma Alabama, the epicen-
ter of several important civil rights battles during the 50s), and noted Milwaukee civil rights activist Father James Groppi, who led the protests for open housing in the 60s; and Dr. Martin Luther King’s visit to the city. In comparing Wisconsin’s governor and Conservative legislature to that of his own state, Barber said the legislative battles both states are waging is not about Democrats and Republicans fighting each other, but about extremism at its most extreme. “It (extremism) is a continuation of the White Southern Strategy, which is find out who doesn’t like each other and divide them. The myth of extremism is a hot button issue that just doesn’t hurt some, but hurts everyone.” Barber said it is imperative state movements are built and brought together in a network that will shift the center of gravity. “The Moral Movement is a marathon, not a sprint. It will shift the political gravity until people elected to do one (bad) thing won’t be able to do it politically.” --MCJ Editor Thomas Mitchell, Jr. contributed to his article.
“As Quiet As It’s Kept!”
Martin Luther King and Springfield College: A rare accounting of FBI intervention and the bravery of a college president By Taki S. Raton
S
EDITOR’S NOTE: The following article by Taki Raton on this little known Black historical fact is a good time to launch a new section by your Community Journal. We call it, “As Quiet As It’s Kept!” This section, which will appear from time to time, will focus on little known Black historical facts that our people don’t know, get little, if any, attention by the mainstream press or our education system; and goes beyond the usual, well known and “safe” Black historical facts and figures celebrated each year during Black History Month (February). The section will be a reminder that Black history wasn’t made in the vaccum of one month, but was--as is--24/7 and 365.
aturday, June 14, 2014 was a highly significant date in both the annals of civil rights and of a modest college campus in Springfield, Massachusetts.
It is virtually an untold story rarely researched or scripted by the pens of writers and historians. In the words of Martin Dobrow of the Atlantic, it is, “The untold story of a government plot, a maverick college president, and the most important figure of the civil right era.” Fifty years ago on June 14, 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King was invited by the then Springfield College president, Glenn Olds, to receive an honorary degree and deliver the keynote commencement address to the graduating class. According to Dobrow in his article Dr. King entitled, “How the FBI Tried to Block Martin Luther King’s Commencement Speech,” Springfield College on March 24, 1964 sent a letter to King to share logistical details of the graduation day programming and requested of him a “glossy photograph” and a bio. And as a brief aside most appropriately included in Dobrow, it is additionally documented that their “one and only meeting lasting barely a minute” encounter on March 26, 1964 between Martin Luther King and Malcolm X during their travels as they both came to Washington to observe the beginning of the Senate debate on the Civil Rights Act. It was merely and only what we call in the media a “photo op” moment – they came together, shook hands and smiled for the camera. And as quoted by Dobrow, Malcolm said jokingly to King as they parted: “Now you’re going to get investigated.” But as noted in the Atlantic – the primary source for this particular treatment – investigations into King as of March 1964 were well underway. The then Attorney General Robert Kennedy had approved FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover’s request a year earlier in October 1963 to sanction the “extraordinary” wiretapping, by his own government, of King’s home, office, and hotel rooms where he stayed. Writes Dobrow, Hoover was gathering data on the civil rights leader’s alleged association with communist and later on his sexual life. In this attempt to defame King’s character, Hoover and his team endeavored to accumulate trumped up “highlights” which they leaked to the press, to the President, and even to Pope Paul VI. This effort even found its way to this small campus in Western Massachusetts, Springfield College, where Dobrow describes the campus – per quoting - as “sort of an apple pie kind of place” and the Springfield class of 1964 as having a “Forest Gump-like connection” with U.S. history.” Details the Atlantic writer: “These students, at the tail end of the so-called ‘Silent Generation,’ were less inclined to question authority or conventional wisdom than their younger siblings would alter be. “They also chosen to attend Springfield College, an old YMCA school, known as the birthplace of basketball and best regarded at the time for producing wholesome teachers of physical education.” Olds interest with and connection to King are further inspired by his offering the Springfield campus as a site for Peach Corps training. Marking the 75 anniversary of the college in 1960, the institution’s president invited as speakers such renowned pacifists as Aldous Huxley, Margaret Mead, and Norman Cousins. Thus, concludes the Atlantic posting, it was “no real surprise” that Olds would select Martin Luther King as a commencement speaker in 1964. Noting Dobrow’s timeline, efforts to block King’s commencement participation was already underway just days following King’s invitational acceptance in March. The Bureau asked Massachusetts Senator Leverette Saltonstall, a “corporator” of Springfield College, “to lean on Olds to ‘uninvite’ King,” based on the “damming details from the wiretap.” Saltonstall met with Olds on April 7 to discuss the “FBI’s dirt on King.” Saltonstall also asked the Bureau if Cartha “Deke” DeLoach could also meet with Olds. As recorded in Dobrow, this meeting took place at the FBI office on April 8 at 4 p.m. According to reports, Olds at this meeting was “very shocked” by the information provided by Saltonstall who suggested that King be “prevented” from making the commencement address at Springfield College. However, it was Olds’ position at the meeting with DeLoach that, “It would be impossible to ‘uninvite’ King to make the appearance at the commencement.”
THE MILWAUKEE COMMUNITY JOURNAL
(continued on page 7)
Published twice weekly, Wednesday & Friday
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Phone: 414-265-5300 (Advertising and Administration) • 414-265-6647 (Editorial) • Website: communityjournal.net • Email: Editorial@communityjournal.net/Advertising@communityjournal.net
MCJ STAFF: Colleen Newsom, Patricia O’Flynn -Pattillo Classified Advertising Publisher, CEO Jimmy V. Johnson, Sales Rep. Robert J. Thomas Joan Hollingsworth, Sales Rep. Assoc. Publisher CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Todd Thomas, Vice Pres. Taki S. Raton, Mikel Holt, Assoc. Publisher Rev. Roxanne Cardenas, Thomas E. Mitchell, Jr., Editor Troy A. Sparks, Kia Marie Green, Mang. Editor Sports Editor Teretha Martin, Technical PHOTOGRAPHER: Yvonne Kemp Consultant/Webmaster Josephine Joki, Billing Dept./ Publisher’s Admin. Assist. Opinion and comments expressed on the Perspectives page do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher or management of the MCJ. Letters and “other perspectives” are accepted but may be edited for content and length.
RELIGION The Milwaukee Community Journal June 18, 2014 Page 4
Despite her battle against cancer, Pastor Charline Britt continues to serve the less fortunate of the community
Though she battles bone cancer, community organizer Pastor Charline Britt has not let the disease rob her of her determination to serve and help others in need. Despite this life challenge, Pastor Britt’s tenacity and enthusiastic spirit is ever present to her family, friends and those who depend on her for help and assistance in the face of life’s challenges. The pastor of Old Landmark Deliverance Outreach Ministries, which she founded on January 11, 2011 (the fulfillment of a life-long goal), Pastor Britt’s only focus, and perhaps the one thing, other than family, that keeps her going is her dedication to feed, house and clothe “the least of these” in our community. A long-time community organizer
Pastor Charline Britt (seated left) and staff at Old Landmark Deliverance Outreach Ministries. (Photo supplied by the church) before entering the ministry, Pastor have lost within themselves during Britt has always been dedicated to their struggles. helping the less fortunate and giving (continued on page 8) back to them the sense of love they
Breaking open--and sharing-the Word
In the Catholic Church and some other churches, Sunday, June 22 is called Corpus Christi (Body of Christ) Sunday. The readings are: Deut 8: 2-3, 14b-16a, 1st Cor 10: 1617 and John 6: 51-58. In our Church every Sunday we gather around the altar and we celebrate God's Word as we proclaim the Word of God from the Hebrew Scripture and the Christian Scripture. We "break open" and share it, as we know it is food for the soul. We then take the bread and wine; place it on the Welcome Table, pray over it and prepare ourselves to receive the Sacred Body and Blood of Jesus the Christ. And we remember what St. Augustine said: "We become what we eat." This sacred action has three components: memory of the past, a pres-
BREAD IN THE WILDERNESS
By Fr. Carl Diederichs, All Saints Catholic Church
ent grace, and hope for eternal life. Recall what Jesus did at the Last Supper as he gave us his body and blood. We recall His dying on the cross; and we celebrate at the altar God's love and God grace given to nourish us as we go forth from the Welcome Table to serve others with loving compassion. This "One Bread" that we place on the altar and the "Cup of Blessing,"
which we bless, is as St. Paul says, participation in the body of Christ. "Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf." In John's Gospel for this feast, we hear some of the same things we hear today: "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" But Jesus persists: "My flesh is true food, and my blood is (continued on page 8)
POLITICS & G OVERNMENT
The Milwaukee Community Journal June 18, 2014 Page 5
City•County•State•National
Sup. Rainey introduces resolution for advisory referendum on raising minimum wage to $10 an hour Rainey Says Current Minimum Wage Inadequate to Keeping People Out of Poverty
Milwaukee County Supervisor Khalif Rainey recently introduced a resolution calling for a County-wide advisory referendum asking voters if they support an increase in the State minimum wage from the current $7.25 an hour to $10.10 an hour. The resolution was passed by the Judiciary, Safety and General Services Thursday by a vote of 5-1 and will be considered by the full County Board at its next meeting on June 26. "Voters need to be able to express themselves on this issue," Rainey said. "An advisory referendum, which I believe would pass easily, Sup. Khalif would put pressure on State lawmakers who have been dragging their feet on this issue. There are too many people working full-time and making a minimum wage that cannot support them or their families." Rainey's resolution, which points out that someone
Earl Buford
working for the current minimum wage makes only $290 a week, or $15,080 a year, says that the Federal Poverty Guideline for a family of four is $51,695. In addition, the resolution says that the poverty rate in Wisconsin is 13.2 percent while the rate in Milwaukee County is 22.3, with 32.4 percent of children living in poverty in Milwaukee County. "The problem of poverty is only getting worse in Milwaukee County," Rainey said. "We need to do something to light a fire under the Legislature and the Governor to get them Rainey to move on increasing the minimum wage. People in poverty are suffering, and I'm confident the people of Milwaukee County will speak up for those who need a raise in the minimum wage." The referendum would be held on the Nov. 4, 2014 ballot.
Earl Buford to Succeed Donald Sykes as MAWIB President/CEO
CITY HALL--Mayor Tom Barrett recently announced Earl Buford as the new President and CEO of the Milwaukee Area Workforce Invest-
ment Board (MAWIB). Buford succeeds Donald Sykes who has served in that capacity since 2006. “I’m pleased Earl will be the new President and CEO of MAWIB. He takes over MAWIB at a time when quality workforce development has become increasingly important to the region. It’s my expectation Earl will continue to lead the organization in the positive direction that Don has (continued on page 8)
Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Mary Burke with MUL President and CEO Ralph Hollmon and members of the organization at last weekend’s Black and White Ball. (Photo by Yvonne Kemp)
New Businesses Need Burke Article courtesy of Urban Media News
Small businesses are the backbone our economy, they make up over 95% of American employers. Small firms generate over 65% of net new private sectors jobs and account for 50% of private sector employment. Their jobs and their dollars are what make our nation and our state thrive. Wisconsin voted Scott Walker into office thinking he would make life easier to own or start-up a business, but four years later, Wisconsin is one the five worst states for new businesses. According to a yearly report by the Ewing Marion Kaufmann Foundation, Wisconsin ranks 46th in the nation for new business starts. Levels of entrepreneurial activity actually declined from the previous year, meaning it was harder to start a new business last year than it was the year before. Walker quickly declared Wisconsin “open for business” when he took office in 2011, but since then the state has fallen from 11th to 35th in the nation in job creation. Wisconsin’s doors don’t seem to be open to either entrepreneurs or small businesses. The governor hasn’t created the kind of growth he said he would in Wisconsin. Even his flagship job’s agency, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation
(WEDC), has fallen short of its main task, creating only 5,840 since 2011. WEDC has been plagued by scandal and controversy since its inception for misuse of taxpayer funds, exaggerated jobs claims, and lack of basic oversight. Walker’s failure doesn’t just show in the numbers, it shows in the households all across Wisconsin where new businesses have failed and families can’t keep the lights on. We’re in big trouble when a governor makes more time for the people who donate to his campaigns than the people who make Wisconsin run. Unlike Scott Walker, Mary Burke seems to get that. Burke has a forward-looking plan that will work for Wisconsin far beyond the next election cycle. Small businesses can’t thrive without help from our leaders in Madison. Burke wants to quadruple the size of the State Venture Capital Fund and expand Angel Investment Tax Credits. Her plan, “Invest in Success,” puts resources in the hands of entrepreneurs who will make the jobs of tomorrow and create the next generation of innovation and industry. Wisconsin can trust Mary Burke to get results and move our state forward once again. She’s the only candidate in the race with both public and private sector success creating jobs. She knows exactly what it takes to start and own a successful business, having done so herself in her twenties. Scott Walker has only taken us backwards, and it’s scary to think about where Wisconsin will be after another four years under his destructive policies. Now more than ever, Wisconsin needs Mary Burke’s experience and vision.
YOUTH&EDUCATION The Milwaukee Community Journal June 18, 2014 Page 6
I
EDUCATED QUOTE: “He who opens a school door, closes a prison.”--Victor Hugo
60th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education
Sheriff Clarke attends neighborhood picnic
We’ve Come a Long Way but We Have a Long Way to Go Part One
“While America spends more on K-12 education than any other country in the world, America ranks in the middle regarding academic achievement out of the 25 top countries in the world. The fact remains, for Blacks, academic achievement is much worst.”--Rahim Islam (at left)
have always said when White America catches a cold, Black America catches “triple pneumonia.” While the America the concept represents the best experiment in modern history, America struggles with significant domestic challenges.
When the “majority” White America has ills and trouble and they have many (i.e. economic recession, divorce and the demise of the family structure; decline of the middle class; general moral decline where those that have more don’t support those less fortunate, etc.); the “minority” Black America’s problems are much, much worst. Let’s examine education especially since we have recently recognized the 60th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education. While America spends more on K-12 education than any other country in the world, America ranks in the middle regarding academic achievement out of the 25 top countries in the world. The fact remains, for Blacks, academic achievement is much worst. We recently acknowledge the 60th anniversary of the historic Supreme Court Ruling of Brown v. Board of Education which proves less a cause for celebration and grounds for questioning the current education inequities. The ruling was historic because it declared “separate but equal” not only is an impossibility, but unconstitutional. Where you start is critical and many of the Black man’s struggles are directly linked to our history in America; therefore, let’s examine a little bit of history. During the enslavement of our Ancestors, there were numerous States that had laws on their books that forbid the majority of our ancestors to read and/or to be educated (it was a crime). Although the Declaration of Independence stated that "All men are created equal," due to the institution of slavery, this statement was not to be grounded in law in the United States until after the Civil War and, arguably, not completely fulfilled to date. Blacks continue to fight for the realization of this Declaration - there have been numerous legal challenges to eliminate the American institution of slavery and the system of “structural” and “legal” racism – the 1954 Brown v. Board court case, while critical, followed many critical legal cases. In 1848, Benjamin Roberts, a free Black printer, filed suit against the city of Boston where his 5-year-old daughter was required to travel past five white public schools to reach her segregated school. He based his suit on an ordinance that stated,
UNIVERSALLY SPEAKING By Rahim Islam
"Any child excluded from the public schools could recover damages." The litigants were represented by U.S. Senator and abolitionist Charles Sumner and a prominent black attorney named Robert Morris. In the case, Roberts v. Brown, decided in 1850, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts found no constitutional basis for abolishing "colored only" schools. The decision was cited in upholding the "separate but equal" doctrine. In 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified and finally put an end to slavery. Moreover, the Fourteenth Amendment (1868) strengthened the legal rights of newly freed slaves by stating, among other things, that no state shall deprive anyone of either "due process of law" or of the "equal protection of the law." Finally, the Fifteenth Amendment (1870) further strengthened the legal rights of newly freed slaves by prohibiting states from denying anyone the right to vote due to race. Despite these Amendments, Black people were denied not only legal rights but in many cases, human rights. In fact, many state legislatures enacted laws that led to the legally mandated segregation of the races. In other words, the laws of many states decreed that blacks and whites could not use the same public facilities, ride the same buses, attend the same schools, etc. These laws came to be known as Jim Crow laws and many believe that these laws were part of a compromise made between the North and South to keep a form of slavery and to thwart additional threats to a possible second civil war. It was not until the 1890s that these laws were directly challenged in court. In 1892, a black man named Homer Plessy refused to give up his seat to a white man on a train in New Orleans, as he was required to do by Louisiana state law. For this action he was arrested. Plessy, contend-
ing that the Louisiana law separating blacks from whites on trains violated the "equal protection clause" of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, decided to fight his arrest in court. By 1896, his case had made it all the way to the United States Supreme Court. By a vote of 8-1, the United States Supreme Court ruled against Plessy. In the case of Plessy v. Ferguson, Justice Henry Billings Brown, writing the majority opinion, stated that “The object of the Fourteenth amendment was undoubtedly to enforce the equality of the two races before the law, but in the nature of things it could not have been intended to abolish distinctions based upon color, or to endorse social, as distinguished from political, equality…..if one race be inferior to the other socially, the Constitution of the United States cannot put them upon the same plane.” ARE YOU KIDDING ME – WAKE UP BROTHERS AND SISTERS, THIS IS WHAT WERE UP AGAINST. THERE CONTINUES TO BE SO MUCH OPPOSITION TO FULL CITIZENSHIP OF BLACKS IN AMERICA. The lone dissenter in the Plessy case, Justice John Marshal Harlan, interpreting the Fourteenth Amendment another way, stated, "Our Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens." Justice Harlan’s dissent would become a rallying cry for those in later generations that wished to declare segregation unconstitutional. As a result of the Plessy decision, in the early twentieth century the Supreme Court continued to uphold the legality of Jim Crow laws and other forms of racial discrimination. In the case of Cumming v. Richmond (Ga.) County Board of Education (1899), for instance, the Court refused to issue an injunction preventing a school board from spending tax money on a white high school when the same school board voted to close down a black high school for financial reasons - DOES THIS SOUND FAMILIAR. Rahim Islam is a graduate of LaSalle University with dual degrees in accounting and finance. A proponent of life-long learning, his educational background also includes specialty areas of tax accounting, oil refining, investment banking, marine transportation, community development and real estate development. Mr. Islam is a founding member of Universal Companies and has served as President & CEO since its inception in 1993. Universal is a comprehensive community development and education management corporation founded by Kenneth Gamble, accomplished singer, songwriter, music composer and philanthropist. Universal is also the largest community-based, private manager of public schools in the country. With 2 Campuses here in Milwaukee-Universal Webster & Universal Green Bay Ave Under his direct leadership, Universal has been the conduit for over $1.5 Billion of real estate development and investment and currently educates over 5K students in 12 schools (K-12).
Seminar on transforming education at St. Marcus School
Individuals concerned about the future of the community and widening gap in racial achievement in education, should attend a workshop Saturday where an initiative will be introduced that will put children first in local education reform. The workshop will be June 21, 2014 at St. Marcus Church, 2215 N. Palmer St. Attendees are advised to use the Palmer and North Avenue entrance.
The event will begin with a Continental Breakfast at 8:30 a.m., followed by the keynote speaker at 9 a.m. The speaker will be Dr. Mark R. Warren, author of the book “A Match on Dry Grass: Community Organizing as a Catalyst for School Reform.” The speech will be followed by breakout sessions to discuss the new action plan. For more information, call 414-491-2858.
Sheriff David Clarke attended the Mt. Lebanon Lutheran Church & School 3rd Annual Neighborhood Picnic last week. Photos of his visit with the families are attached. (Photos to Mary J. Corlette)
Martin Luther King and Springfield College (continued from page 3)
The college president did receive support form his own campus administration in the Atlantic account. In a typed April 15 memo from Springfield College’s Director of Public Information, George D. Wood, Jr. addressed to Olds and cc’d to four other administrators, it was positioned that in the light of current national interest, not to accord the honorary degree to King, “could result in much unfavorable criticism of the College, not only from various minority groups, but from many other groups and factions across the land.” Two days later on April 17, the frontpage headline of the Springfield student newspaper bannered: “World Famous Civil Rights Leader to Speak at June Commencement,” and in the words of Dobrow, Martin Luther King was, “signed, sealed, and all but delivered to present the commencement address on June 14, 1964. But King up and got himself arrested as a result of a protest demonstration in St. Augustine, Florida on June 11, four days before he was to appear on the commencement stage in Massachusetts. As the filibuster for the Civil Rights Act continued in Washington, the Atlantic reports that King needed a cause, & “that would dramatize injustice and the sperils of segregation.” There was a strong Ku Klux Klan presence in St. Augustine and documented incidents of violent and even murderous acts against area civil rights workers. When King came down to St. Augustine to protest against segregation as posted in the Atlantic, he was moved from place to place for his own protection. On May 28, the address of a cottage that had been rented for him was printed in the local paper. That night, the cottage was blasted with gunfire although King was not there.
At a press conference on June 5, King is quoted as saying: “We have worked in some difficult communities, but we have never worked in one as lawless as this.” He also wired President Johnson to request federal protection noting that, “All semblance of law and order has broken down in St. Augustine.” On June 11 – the hottest day of the year according to published records, King was arrested along with 16 others when he attempted to order food at the whites-only Monson Motor Lodge. On June 12, King was indicted on charges to include violating Florida’s “unwanted guest law” and was “whisked away” in a highway patrol car to the Dual County Jail 40 miles north of Jacksonville, perhaps – as suggested – for his own safety. More than 1,000 miles north, the commencement at Springfield College was scheduled for the next day. But King was still locked up on Saturday, June 13. Glenn Olds, it is reported, contacted St. Augustine Mayor Joseph Shelley and “pleaded with him for King’s release.” Olds even “snapped” at Shelley threatening to send college trustee Julian Sprague down to Florida in a private plane to have King record the graduation speech from behind bars. “We will broadcast King’s commencement address, not only to our students, but you will have a real national audience. This will give you some real visibility. You’re holding King because he sat at a lunch counter …in America!” King was released from jail on a $900 bond on June 13. On Sunday, June 14 along with Coretta Scott King and SCLC aid Bernard Lee, he landed at Bradley Air Field. They were greeted by education professor Robert Markarian who drove them to Springfield. They arrived on campus where King put on his academic regalia in preparation for his commence-
The Milwaukee Community Journal June 18, 2014 Page 7
Ruby Dee and how it used to be
Photo by Reuters
Dr. King (standing far left) with the president and faculty of Springfield College on June 14, 1964. Dr. King gave the commencement speech at the college that day, just 10 months after teh “I Have a Dream” speech and six months before receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. (Springfield pic) Springfield with 9 satellite campuses loment address. Inside the packed graduation hall, cated in Boston, Charleston, North CarKing was introduced by Springfield olina; Houston, Texas; Manchester, New College President Glenn Olds and then Hampshire; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; St. spoke for 30 minutes. In his opening re- Johnsbury, Vermont; Tampa, Florida; marks, he thanked Olds, complimented Southern California, and Wilmington, the college and referenced his experi- Delaware. All campuses offer both an underences in Florida: “I need not pause to say how very de- graduate and graduate degrees in lighted I am to be here this afternoon. I Human Services. Milwaukee’s Springmust confess that I felt about this time field campus is located at 744 North 4th yesterday afternoon that I wouldn’t be Street, Suite 300. Those locally interested in learning more about admission here.” Cites Dobrow, he encouraged stu- information and degree requirements are dents to “cultivate a world perspective” urged to call the Milwaukee campus at and to implore them to consider “stand- (414) 276-2300. ing up with determination” when encountering injustice and “resisting it with all of one’s might.” King went on to receive an honorary degree at Yale the next day. Initially known at its 1885 opening as the International Young Men’s Christian Association Training School, Springfield is now a School of Human Services. The main campus remains in
Sex and Seniors
(continued from page 1) found that nearly half of all Americans age 60 or over have sex at least once a month and that nearly half also wanted men were widowed. • Seventy-six percent of older adults, ages 57 to 64 re- to have sex more frequently. Another interesting finding: people find their mates more physically attractive over ported having sex with a partner within the previous year; 53 percent of TIPS FOR AGING & SEX time. Both men and women can expect those between the ages of 64 to 75 had Great sex is the result of an normal physiological changes as they sex and 26 percent of the individuals excellent relationship, not the age that may affect the way they exbetween the ages of 75 to 85 reported cause of it. It's a matter of know- perience sex. Experts say these engaging in sexual activity. ing, understanding and caring changes are not usually a barrier to enThe survey also found some truth to for your partner. To renew that joying a healthy sex life, but couples the old adage “use it or lose it.” Remay have to take more time for searchers found that individuals in bond, consider a few recommenarousal. For example, posttheir 40s who slacked off having sex, dations: menopausal women, have lower levels 1. Think positively about yourfound it more difficult to continue into of the hormone estrogen, which intheir later years, while those who re- self and accept yourself for who vaginal dryness and elasticity. creases mained sexually active reported en- you are at every stage in life. In many cases, this can be relieved by joying sex well into their 60s and 70s. 2. Talk with your partner something as simple as using overGeriatrics expert, Dr. Walter M. about how you both may be the-counter lubricants. Bortz and author of three books on changing. Many couples don't Doctors can also offer other remehealthy aging as well as several stud- spend much time talking to each dies for more difficult cases. Men may ies on seniors' sexuality said, "If you other about sex, but this type of suffer from impotence or have more stay interested, stay healthy, stay off intimate exchange, done with redifficulty achieving and sustaining medications, and have a good mate, spect and care, can have a posiarousals as their blood circulation then you can have good sex all the tive effect on your sex life. slows and testosterone levels decrease. way to the end of life.” 3. Remember that there are Impotence is also more prevalent in And, while not everyone wants or many ways to enjoy sexual intimen who have a history of heart disneeds an active sex life, many people macy. Give yourself permission ease, hypertension, or diabetes. continue to be sexual all their lives. For men, "biology or hydraulics" is to experiment to discover what "There's strong data all over: It's a the biggest deterrent to sex later in life, feels right for you at this time in matter of survival," says Dr. Bortz. says Dr. Bortz. "For women, it's oplife. "People that have sex live longer. portunity and availability.” 4. Use it or lose it. Remaining Married people live longer. People Finding a partner can be difficult for need people. The more intimate the sexually active helps keep blood older women who are widowed, diconnection, the more powerful the ef- pumping to the genital area. vorced, or single. fects." 5. Stay healthy. Eating a balAccording to several reports, As the baby boom generation ages, anced diet, staying physically acwomen make up the majority of the with their increased numbers and a tive, and maintaining a healthy elderly without partners. The reasons: marked increase in life expectancy, the weight is good for your overall -women live longer than men, and topic of sex is becoming less taboo. and your sexual -- health. older men tend to pair up with healthy A clear majority of men and women 6. Talk to your doctor Not all younger women. age 45 and up say a satisfying sexual Older women are also judged by sorelationship is important to their qual- doctors are comfortable discussing sexual issues and may ciety as less attractive than their male ity of life, according to a survey by the not be up-to-date on the latest counterparts—an obvious double stanAARP. Among 45- to 59-year-olds dard. with sexual partners, some 56 percent research regarding sexual This "partner gap" greatly inhibits said they had sexual intercourse once health. If that's the case, ask for women's social and sexual activity as a referral. a week or more. they reach their senior years. In the Among 60- to 70-year-olds with AARP study, only 32 percent of women 70 or older have partners, 46 percent of men and 38 percent of women have partners, compared with 59 percent of men in the same age sex at least once a week, as did 34 percent of those 70 or In the NCOA study, older men are more likely than group. older. Similar findings emerged in a survey conducted by older women to be married and have sex partners. the National Council on the Aging (NCOA). The study
(continued from page 3) nefarious scheme by a con man (Roy Glenn), Poitier learns that Dee is pregnant and the couple seems to crumble. But McNeil uses the rest of the money to buy a home in a White suburb and they move in -- despite a neighborhood association’s efforts to keep them out. For her astonishing work as Denzel Washington’s mother in 2007’s “American Gangster,” Dee became the second-oldest Academy Award nominee (at 87) for Best Supporting Actress. And in the opinion of this long-time devotee of vintage movies, she very well could have been accorded the same honor for her memorable role as “Mother Sister” in Spike Lee’s amazing “Do the Right Thing” (1989), which was set in Brooklyn. Among Dee’s other celebrated roles were in “Jungle Fever” (1991); “Cat People” (1982); “Buck and the Preacher” (1972); “Up Tight” (1968); “The Incident” (1967); “Gone Are The Days” (1963); “St. Louis Blues” (1958); “The Joe Louis Story” (1953), and “The Jackie Robinson Story” (1950). In each of these portrayals, the wonderful Ruby Dee’s immense talent and sensitivity always came shining through. She will be missed. Milwaukee native Richard G. Carter is a freelance columnist
Kaleidoscope will return next week!
The Milwaukee Community Journal June 18, 2014 Page 8
THE SPORTS PAGE Brewers Wall of Honor celebrate contributions of past Brewers players
US World Cup soccer player celebrates winning goal his team scored over Ghana
Dispatches From Brazil's World Cup: "No One Lives Here Anymore" Article courtesy of Dave Zirin
Johnny Briggs
Cecil Cooper
Darryl Hamilton
Sixto Lezcano
Breaking open--and sharing-the Word
(continued from page 4) true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me." Every time we gather for our Eucharistic Celebration (Mass) we come together around the table. We listen to the Word of God and, hopefully, we are changed by it. We come to the altar and take a piece of bread and a sip of wine and we are changed. We have just shared in the Body and Blood of Jesus. We are strengthened to now make that "Eucharist," that "Thanksgiving," real in the lives of others. For we know, that while there are hungry people anywhere in the world, our Eucharist is incomplete. All of God's People become our concern. What are the varied hungers right in front of us? How do we, strengthened by the Body and Blood of Christ, reach out to those still hungry and sick, homeless and poor?
Despite her battle against cancer, Pastor Britt continues to serve less fortunate
(continued from page 4) She has been praised by many community leaders and activists, as well as members of the faith-based community for her unparallel ethics and unmatched heart. Pastor Britt is asking for the continued prayers of family, friends and the community she has served unwaveringly for so long. She is also asking the community to help her ministry in any way they can. If you want to help Old Landmark Deliverance Outreach Ministries, call 414-364-0855.
Favela do Metro was once a community of 700 families living just a five minute walk—just up the Rua Sao Francisco Xavier—from Rio's legendary Maracana Stadium. Now it's a couple of storefronts and a tonnage of rubble. All of the 700 families are gone, uprooted by a World Cup agenda that looked at their homes and envisioned parking lots for the Maracana. Even that was too much for city planners, as the parking lot has yet to be built with the World Cup already underway. Perhaps it will be ready for people's cars when Rio's 2016 Olympics is underway. When I asked one of the former Favela residents, hanging around a food stand, to explain the delays he said, "If they can't finish the World Cup stadiums, do you really think they care about this place?" Instead, all around are empty lots; case studies in demolition, with the jagged remnants of what were once people's homes there for all to see. There are dolls with missing heads and limbs, couches without cushions and razor sharp exposed springs, and a sink leaning precariously on a mountain of wood shavings. Their memories have become someone else's garbage. On one wall is spray-painted, "What happened to the families? No one lives here anymore." Theresa Williamson of the NGO Catalytic Communities, providing translation, told me the story of what happened to the favela's former residents. The first 100 families evicted by the city—in November 2010, just after the 2016 Olympics were awarded to Rio—were forced out in chaotic rush. Without any time to consider their options or organize any kind of collective response, they were shuttled out at gunpoint, and resettled in Rio's far west zone, two hours away from their former homes. It was a violent eviction, and the first to gain any kind of international media visibility. The 600 remaining families then started organizing. They sued the city. They protested. They forced the city government to grant them public housing within a few minutes of Favelo do Metro so the disruption to their lives would be as minimal as possible. As Williamson said, "This is an example of what happens when you resist eviction—the more you resist, the better the outcome." Still, this was a painful process that took three years to play out, and those three years were ugly as sin. With hundreds of residents still living in Favelo do Metro, the city began to unceremoniously knockdown homes and leave behind low hills of trash. Rats infested the area. Drug traffickers found new homes in the empty lots. The city claimed it needed to develop the area for the games—instead it brought blight. Two middle aged men, former residents of Favelo do Metro, sat around a plastic table between the sidewalk and a demolished home. We ask them why the city would hastily evict this community only to leave wreckage behind: "They didn't give us a reason why we had to leave. They just came, pushed us out, and knocked the buildings down. Brazil spends and spends on 'the future.' Meanwhile, there's nothing for the people of today." I was also able to speak with Eomar Freitas another former resident of Favela do Metro. His was the last home standing. He still has a storefront where he sells drinks and food. "I've lost over 90% of my business but I refuse to leave," he said. "If I live elsewhere the mayor wins." The Mayor of Rio, Eduardo Paes is seen by Freitas to be as much—or more—of a culprit when it comes to the false promises of new homes that accompanied the destruction of Favela do Metro. "The Mayor's mouth is like a baby's ass. Nothing but shit." Eomar says the new housing the residents won is serviceable but smaller and of a lower quality than their former homes. For example, hanging photos on the wall is impossible because the walls are so brittle that they won't hold a nail. In the lot right next to Eomar's storefront are several hundred workers clearing out the rubble for the purpose of paving it with cement asphalt for a parking lot. We speak to the workers there, all of whom live in favelas of their own. They are also in a construction workers union. You can only wonder why displacing and destroying the homes of other working class people is union work. One of the people with me, a favela organizer, is actually recognized by one of the workers from a demonstration at another favela he was destroying. She asked him, as a favelado, how it made him feel to tear down these homes. "It makes me feel strange and disturbed in my heart," was his answer, using a word in Brazilian-Portuguese that doesn't have an exact parallel. This is the other Rio, a place of real estate speculation and mega events for foreign consumption. It's a place that loves soccer, but hates how it's being used and has no patience for treating this moment as World Cup business as usual. As Eomar said to me, "Look around my store. You'll see posters of [Argentina’s] Lionel Messi and [Portugal’s] Cristian Ronaldo. No Brazil players. In the Brazil vs. Croatia game? I was rooting for Croatia.” Dave Zirin’s latest book is Brazil’s Dance with the Devil: The World Cup, the Olympics and the Fight for Democracy.
Earl Buford to Succeed Donald Sykes as MAWIB President/CEO Ben Oglivie
(continued from page 5) initiated,” said Mayor Tom Barrett. “Don took us through a very important transition and has created a solid foundation. He has done an incredible job building partnerships and identifying funding opportunities. We are most grateful for his service and wish him the best in his retirement.” Buford has been at the Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership (WRTP/BIG STEP) for fifteen years, and is currently serving as President. Under Buford’s leadership, WRTP/BIG STEP has received many recent accolades, including praise from the White House. Sykes oversaw the transition from the Private Industry Council to MAWIB in 2006, changing the strategic vision of the organization. As a result, MAWIB has dramatically increased its capacity to serve job seekers and work with the business community. Additionally, the organization’s funding has been diversified and partnerships increased. “Don has done an outstanding job as President and CEO of MAWIB. We are incredibly appreciative of his
service,” said John Kissinger, MAWIB Chairman of the Board. “Earl’s experience and commitment to workforce development make him the perfect fit for our organization. I am confident he will continue to build upon MAWIB’s successes, as well as Don Sykes’ legacy.” “I am honored to be taking over for Don Sykes. He is an icon in the community,” said Earl Buford, MAWIB President and CEO Appointee. “I look forward to working collaboratively with the business community, and economic and community development stakeholders.” MAWIB is a highly effective and efficient organization focused on coordinating workforce development for Milwaukee County. It is the largest of eleven workforce boards in the state. Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs) were created through federal legislation and are appointed bodies, certified by law, and given the ability to set policy, guide implementation, and provide oversight to the local workforce development system. WIBs provide a forum for planning workforce development strategies.
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More PHOTOP pics from the Black&White Ball at the BMO Harris Bradley Center
Photos by Yvonne Kemp
The Milwaukee Community Journal June 18, 2014 Page 9
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