COMMUNITY VOL.XL Number 4 August 26, 2015
The Milwaukee
JOURNAL www.communityjournal.net 25 Cents
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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
“Gearing Up” for a New School Year! “HAMMERING HOME THE DREAM!”
Various community organizations, businesses, and churches hold book bag and school supply giveaways to help students get off to a fast start!
Jammin’ 98.3’s Andrea Williams joined a group of kids in showing off their ability to do a dance called, “The Whip” during the “Back 2 School Superstarts and Supplies” event at Midtown Center, 56th and Capitol Drive. Free backpacks and school supplies were distributed to children who attended. The event was hosted by Williams. (Photo by Yvonne Kemp)
Baseball legend Hank Aaron returns to Milwaukee for the 12th “Evening with Hank Aaron” to raise funds for his “Chasing the Dream” Foundation
Home Run King Hank Aaron shares a moment with friends Joe Torre (left), former manager of the New York Yankees, and recently retired Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig
The Milwaukee Flyers performed at the Milwaukee Kappa Phi Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity’s bookbag giveaway. (Kemp photo)
Northwest Funearl Chapel’s Bookbag giveaway at its Family Activity Center, 4034 W. Good Hope Rd. (Kemp photo)
The Milwaukee Kappa Phi Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. showed what a true partnership of home, school and community can do in the upliftment of the community’s children and their education during its 5th annual Louie Millard Adams Back to School Educational Fair. According to the local Omega men, the event was a “smashing success.” According to a Omega member, the fraternity gave away 880 book bags, over 700 hot dogs, 80 hamburgers and 40 pounds of chicken. In addition, volunteer barbers performed 82 haircuts. The Omega’s would like to thank the volunteers for their work in performing various tasks during the event. (Photo by Yvonne Kemp)
Bookbags were given away during the Milwaukee Health Services’ recent Community Home, Health and Wellness Fair at their MLK location. national recording artist and Milwaukee native Jacob Lattimore greeted fans and signed autographs during the event.
Kids having a good time with Chester Cheetah at the 98.3 bookbag giveaway at Midtown. (Kemp photo)
Brewers Community Foundation Executive Director Cecelia Gore, Katina Shaw, the Brewers Senior Director of Community Relations; and Shanna Reid.
The 12th Annual “Evening With Hank Aaron” fund raising event for the Hank Aaron Chasing the Dream Foundation, was held recently at Miller Park. The foundation was created by Aaron and his wife, Billye, to help children with limited opportunities and financial barriers develop their special talents and pursue their dream. All proceeds from the evening benefit the fund and are administered locally to help children in the Milwaukee area. This year’s special guest was Joe Torre, former manager with the New York Yankees. He is now a chief baseball offier with Major Aaron League Baseball. address(All photos by ing the Yvonne Kemp) gathering at the event.
BACK TO SCHOOL!
Some 100 bookbags loaded with school supplies were given away last week during a backpack giveaway event sponsored by and held at Mama Nana’s Pick Mar Restaurant, 7276 N. Teutonia Ave.
Various items denoting various stages of Aaron’s career were part of a silent auction.
INSIDE: SPECIAL YOUTH AND EDUCATION SECTION
The Milwaukee Community Journal August 26, 2015 Page 2
PERSPECTIVES SIGNIFYIN’ The Gerald Harpers Among Us By Mikel Kweku Osei Holt
Reading a story about Gerald Harper in the local daily last week sent chills down my spine, and left me with a queasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. Harper was sentenced to nine years in prison for driving a stolen car that was involved in an accident last March that killed two-16 year-old passengers who the driver said were his “friends.” Like a growing number of Black teenagers, Harper was previously cited for driving without a license. Police reports noted there was marijuana in his system when he was caught after the auto accident. Heartbroken family members of the two victims, who were apparently unaware that the car driven by Harper was stolen, appeared at his sentencing. The mothers of the two boys provided Judge Joe Donald with wrenching testimony about their respective losses. Tears and sobbing filled the courtroom, and even
Harper said he wished he could trade places with his victims. Sadly, I’ve gotten used to reading about these tragedies, of lost lives— victims and perpetrators—and heartbroken parent(s) for whom life will never be the same. But it was the comments of Judge Donald, and the early life of Harper as detailed by the District Attorney that sparked my emotional response. Assistant D.A. Antoini Apollo revealed that Harper was a smart kid who under different circumstances could had gone on to college, had it not been for teen episodes of violence that had him being kicked out of four high schools. Also, Harper failed to take advantage of numerous attempts by the juvenile justice system to correct his deteriorating behavior. Judge Donald said he had grown frustrated by the parade of young Black men who wind up before him because they “failed to appreciate and understand the value of their
lives.” In Harper’s case, many of his decisions were grounded in a childhood void of parental guidance and a community void of a sense of…well… community. “Both of Harper’s ‘parents’ served prison terms and his mother ‘never formed an attachment’ to him,” the DA explained. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there are thousands of Gerald Harpers out there. And the fuse for a communal disaster has already been lit. Our community has been backsliding for decades, and the greatest victim, and the root of Harper’s situation is the absence of a Black nuclear family to grow through. The nuclear family is the essence, the foundation, of African and African American culture. Or it was back when I was growing up; not that long ago. Today the Black nuclear family—and marriage—is on the endangered species list. Ironically, there were far more Black marriages following slavery than there are today. Maybe because our ancestors were not far removed from God and our culture, they prioritized family and the creed that each generation would be more advanced than the previous one. The roles of the father and mother were clearly defined, as was that of the village. In 1970, nearly 80% of Black households had two parents. Today,
Educator says personal responsibility and owning the decisions they make are the keys to success Two weeks ago, a question was posed to four individuals in the August 12, 2015 Community Journal’s “Pulse of the Community.” The question posed was: “With crime on the rise, every day in our community, what do you think should be done to stop the shootings and killings?” As a contributing investor of the Milwaukee community, I have to apologize about my direct rawness in responding: James Brown once wrote, “ I don’t want nobody to give me nothing, open up the door and I will get it myself.” Many of the responders within the Community Journal stressed “create an economic situation for young people,” or, “there should be a combined effort between parents, teachers, and government;” however, many failed to share the importance of personal accountability. Each of the four individuals who commented in that week’s Pulse of Community shared creating, but why are we creating without instilling self-efficacy and a desire for knowledge in these young people. As a director at an institution of higher learning, I know personally, my staff and I invest in every student to obtain at least a 3.5 GPA and increase the talent dividend within the Milwaukee area with their effort. Fact: Concordia University Wisconsin has a program that supports historically underrepresented populations to obtain their first degree. Not only does Concordia University Wisconsin provide up to 48 percent in grants and scholarships to subsidize the cost of school, free books, but CUW strategically places buffers that challenge students to
THE MILWAUKEE COMMUNITY JOURNAL
LETTER TO THE EDITOR EDITOR
excel in an education, accountability, and pillars of legacy. Mind you, this program is in the middle of the community in the Midtown Shopping Center. Design Your Future (DYF) just finished it’s 6 week retention program to support readiness to thrive in an academic environment, where less than 50 percent of the class of 2017 had 100 percent attendance. The Fall and Spring semesters run less than 50 percent attendance. Classes run the school $12,000 per student to attend a semester when they come into the program less than a 2.0 GPA receiving a scholarship to attend school. Without personal accountability, effective systems don’t work. But when you make a decision to change your life circumstance without a strong family network, you get around people who have solutions to your problems (not the same problems), and decide I will change my circumstance, you can be a part of the 6 out of 20 students who successfully completed summer at a 3.2 GPA despite starting on average 1.8 GPA. What the community needs is pushing the young to own the decisions they make because those decisions are what they are judged by. Alea Cross Design Your Future Coordinator – Midtown Campus
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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: Patricia O’Flynn -Pattillo Publisher, CEO Robert J. Thomas Assoc. Publisher Todd Thomas, Vice Pres. Mikel Holt, Assoc. Publisher Thomas E. Mitchell, Jr., Editor Teretha Martin, Technical Consultant/Webmaster Billing Dept./Publisher’s Admin. Assist.
(continued on page 7)
Colleen Newsom, Classified Advertising Jimmy V. Johnson, Sales Rep. CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Taki S. Raton, Richard G. Carter, Fr. Carl Diederichs, Rev. Joe McLin PHOTOGRAPHER: Yvonne Kemp
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.
There are two quotes from September 2, 2005, that have become fixtures in our cultural and political language, and each sums up the ways in which Americans with differing perspectives came to view the disaster of Hurricane Katrina.
The Milwaukee Community Journal August 26, 2015 Page 3
QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
“I want every young man who sees me to know that I’m not that different from them. I wasn’t born into wealth. I wasn’t born into fame. I made a lot of mistakes – but I kept at it.“-Pres. Barack Obama
We Have People Power – We Just have to Seize it Photo courtesy of Tumbler
We have a Chance to Make History – Part 2
Brother and Sisters, we can make history, but we will have to earn it. No one is going to give it to us. It just doesn’t happen that way. To make history we will have to overcome some very serious odds and obstacles. That’s what constitutes “making history.” You don’t make history when you doing something mediocre and/or normal. When you examine the lives of history-makers, you find them to have overwhelming personalities, often defined by the events that they initiated and/or influenced that resulted in changing or forever altering the course of history. For Black people, the emancipation was clearly a game changer and altered history forever. Not only was the event history making, but also everyone who played a major role in making it happen made history. The people that go down in history are different from the average person, but everyone has the capacity to achieve greatness. For greatness, what comes first? Is it the specific personality traits and their predisposition to become world leaders, movie stars, scientific geniuses, and great athletes? Is it destiny or is it that ordinary people rise to the challenge and do extraordinary things? I believe that it’s both, but more of the latter because everyone has the capacity to take a position that will make history. Take, for example, the following three Black people who absolutely changed history: • Frederick Douglass – There is no greater contributor to American Black History than Frederick Douglass. Frederick Douglass was a Black social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman during the height of slavery. • Honorable Marcus Garvey – There is no greater contributor in developing the movement for the economic self-determination of Black people than Marcus Garvey is. Marcus Garvey believed that Blacks could compete economically if they worked together. The movement was significant with Garvey and the UNIA establishing 700 branches in thirty-eight states by the early 1920s. Garvey's message reached into small towns across the country as well as being a significant influence of groups such as Father Divine's Universal Peace Mission Movement and Honorable Elijah Muhammad’s Nation of Islam. • Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King – There is no greater
The first is from George W. Bush: Five days after Katrina tore through the Gulf Coast region, the president landed in Louisiana facing heavy criticism for his administration’s slow response to the devastation. Touring the state with FEMA director Michael Brown—the only person who’d been more heavily criticized for the government’s inadequate response—Bush turned to the man he’d placed in charge of disaster relief and said, “Brownie, you’re doing a heckuva job.” Part of Bush’s appeal had always been his folksiness, but it offered no solace here. His comment only served to further exemplify his ineptitude. The other quote—what Bush would later call the worst moment of his presidency—came at an unexpected time from a rather unexpected source. Later that same evening, after Bush’s “heckuva job” comment, NBC did what television networks do during times of disaster and hosted a celebrity telethon. Faith Hill, Harry Connick Jr., Claire Danes, Hilary Swank, Lind-
contributor to human rights than Dr. King. In addition to being a spiritual giant and modern day prophet, Dr. King is by far the greatest champion for human and civil rights for Black people in America and the world through a model of non-violent civil disobedience (i.e. boycotts, marches, rallies, etc.). As with the ending of the American institution of slavery and the accomplishments of the civil rights movement, today’s generation of Black people are faced with monumental challenges that, if left unchecked, will do to Black people what neither slavery or the lack of civil and human rights could and that is to permanently place future generations of Black children as 2nd class citizenship in America. Black communities, from an “image” perspective, having been viewed through the eyes of a selected few socalled successful Blacks rather than the actual 45 million Blacks that live in America. We have been blinded by the media regarding our social and economic reality. Blacks are all but invisible in every economic demographic and dominate all of the negative demographics. We must stop living though rap artists, movie stars, athletes, and those few elected officials and examine our growth within the private sector, which is the true pathway and foundation for achieving the American dream of economic prosperity and bliss. As a group, we must make the distinction between individual progress and group gains. Once we do that, it becomes extremely clear that the individual gains pale in comparison to group economic gains or lack of gains (economic paralysis). This reality affects every aspect of American life and hinders Blacks every step of the way. Why? Because wealth or the lack of wealth will determine how much of America you get to experience. Not only does it affect the quality of your “total” life but it will also (continued on page 7)
say Lohan, Leonardo DiCaprio, and others stood before an audience of millions, accompanied by the pictures of despair that were still streaming from the gulf—New Orleans in particular. Also invited was Kanye West, one of the more popular entertainers in the country at the time. He was paired with Mike Myers, famous for his performances as Austin Powers and as the voice of Shrek. Myers read from a teleprompter about the suffering in New Orleans, attempting to build up sympathy before the big ask. When it was West’s turn, he deviated from the script and started speaking from his heart. “I hate the way they portray us in the media,” Kanye said. “You
FROM KANYE TO OBAMA, AND BACK AGAIN...
THE REBIRTH OF BLACK RAGE
BY MYCHAL DENZEL SMITH
see a black family, it says, ‘They’re looting.’ You see a white family, it says, ‘They’re looking for food.’ And, you know, it’s been five days because most of the people are black…. America is set up to help the poor, the black people, the less well-off, as slow as possible.” Myers attempted to rebound, returning to the teleprompter script. The folks in the control room at NBC must have been hoping that West would do the same. Perhaps they weren’t familiar with his brash reputation, or perhaps they thought he would rein himself in, in service of charity. But Kanye wasn’t done: He still needed to deliver what would become one of my generation’s greatest
(continued on page 10)
RELIGION
The Milwaukee Community Journal August 26, 2015 Page 4
Minister carries Cross to protest killings in community
Rev. Dwain Edward Berry, pastor of Risen Savior Community Baptist Church carried a Cross and wore a white rob stained with what was supposd to be blood down Center Street recently to protest the high level of violence in Milwaukee’s Black community. As of Monday, Aug. 25, with the fatal shooting of a area teenager on the northwest side, Milwaukee has had 102 homicides this year. Photo by Yvonne Kemp)
Whom Will We Serve?
speak to his or her teacher about the September is National Sickle Cell disease. Teachers need to know what Awareness Month. First officially to watch for and how to accommorecognized by the federal governdate your child. ment in 1983, National Sickle Cell Beloved, one of the most common Awareness Month calls attention to treatments for SCD is regular blood sickle cell disease (SCD), a genetic transfusion. It helps reduce the risks disease that researchers estimate afof stroke, damage to major organs fects between 70,000 and 100,000 that can lead to severe infections and Americans, the majority of whom are other complications. Many patients African American or Hispanic. According to the National Heart, need transfusions every few weeks to Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), treat the effects of the disease. GenetSCD is a condition that affects peoically-similar blood is superior for ple around the world of many racial people who need repeated blood and ethnic groups. transfusions. SCD is most common in people Increasing African-American dowhose families come from Africa, nations is vital because blood types South or Central America, Caribbean O and B (the blood types of about islands, Mediterranean countries, 70% of African-Americans), are the blood types most in demand. In the India, and Saudi Arabia. SCD occurs By Rev. Judith T. Lester, in approximately 1 out of every 500 U.S. blood donation rates of AfricanB.Min., M.Th. African American births and 1 out of Americans are 25-50% of that of every 36,000 Hispanic American births. white individuals, according to the National Center for About 2.5 million people in the U.S. have the sickle Biotechnology Information. cell trait, which occurs when a person inherits one copy This month, this writer invites you to consider becomof the globin gene. ing a blood donor and give the gift of life. Your blood doPeople with SCD can live productive lives and enjoy nation can help African-Americans suffering from most of the activities that people without SCD do. These diseases such as sickle cell anemia, cancer and heart disare some things that people with SCD can do to stay as ease. healthy as possible: The writer does not assume responsibility in any way • Get regular checkups. Regular health checkups with for readers’ efforts to apply or utilize information or reca primary care doctor can help prevent some serious prob- ommendations made in this article, as they may not be lems. necessarily appropriate for every situation to which they • Prevent infections. Common illnesses, like influenza may refer. quickly can become dangerous for a child with SCD. The This information is for educational purposes only and best defense is to take simple steps to help prevent infec- is not intended to replace the advice of your medical doctions. tor or health care provider. • Learn healthy habits. People with SCD should drink You are encouraged to discuss with your doctor any 8 to 10 glasses of water every day and eat healthy food. questions or concerns you may have concerning blood They also should try not to get too hot, too cold, or too donation and your eligibility. If you would like to contact tired. Rev. Lester, write to her c/o P.O. Box 121, Brookfield, If your child attends daycare, preschool, or school, WI. 53008.
BIBLICAL COUNSELING FOR TODAY’S CHRISTIAN FAMILY
In Loving Memory
“Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God...”--Excerpt from Ephesians 4.1-6 NLT
The readings given to us on the 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time this year center on the question: Whom will we serve? For whom will we give our life? Who has the words of eternal life for us? The reading from Joshua 24: 1-2a, 15-17, 18b, gives us an opportunity to listen in as Joshua asks the question: “If you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve… As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” The people agree with Joshua as they recount how the Lord had brought them up out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery and who did great signs in their sight. It was the Lord who protected them on their journey. So, they say: “Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.” How many of us will eagerly say, along with Joshua: “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord”? And for that statement not to be cheap or flippant, we need to ask ourselves what does “serve the Lord” mean for me. The Gospel from John 6: 53, 60-69, gives us the place to go to find out how we are to serve the Lord. We are to eat Christ’s body and drink His blood, no finessing the statement at all. Unless we do it, we will not have life in us, Jesus says. And if we are faithful and eat and drink at the Welcome Table, we will have “Spirit and Life.” And then we can, with the sustenance of the Eucharist, serve God in ways we never imagined. But, we like His early disciples, have the option to turn away from Him or say with Peter: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” And if we stay, we will be able to do what Psalm 34 lays out before us: We will be humble and we will be glad, we will be righteous and God will be open to our cry. If we are righteous, God will hear our pleas and rescue us from our troubles. When we are heart broken and crushed, God will save. When we work for justice and peace and are crushed, none of our bones will be broken.
September - National Sickle Cell Awareness Month
BREAD IN THE WILDERNESS
By Fr. Carl Diederichs, All Saints Catholic Church
Jesus has the words of eternal life and those words include the Holy Eucharist. We see in the Eucharist a sign of total forgiveness. Even though Jesus is crushed and “eaten” on the Cross and dies, He remains a sign of total forgiveness. Peter says, “You have the words of eternal life.” If we walk with Jesus in this life, we have the great promise
that he will remain with us and our lives will be an extension of His. Our eyes will remain open to the suffering of others. We will serve the Lord not in some obscure way, but by reaching out and helping those in need whether they are family, friends, total strangers or even enemies. Anything less will cheapen our confession that we will serve God. It will become a joke.
Earnestine O’Bee-Founder
Quality Service... a tenured tradition sincere concern at your time of need.
Offering pre-need, at need and after-care services to families in Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha and other communities throughout our state.
Washington, Lure Q. Age 64 yrs. August 20, 2015. Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, August 26, 2015 at 11AM. Visitation Wednesday 10AM until time of services at: Northwest Funeral Chapel O'Bee, Ford & Frazier 6630 W. Hampton Ave. (414)462-6020 Leave space for pix
(414)462-6020
J.C. Frazier, Funeral Director
Scott, Flosine Age 76 yrs. August 21, 2015. Funeral services will be held on Monday, August 31, 2015 at 11AM. Visitation Monday 10AM until time of services at: Northwest Funeral Chapel O'Bee, Ford & Frazier 6630 W. Hampton Ave. (414)462-6020
Niles, Manila A. Age 70 yrs. August 22, 2015. Thrower, Estelle Age 81 yrs. August 21, 2015. Funeral services will be held Funeral services will be held on Saturday, August 29, 2015 at 1PM. Visitation Saturday Friday, August 28, 2015 at 12 Noon until time of serv11AM at Bethel AME Church 4103 N. 35th St. Visitation Fri- ices at: day 10AM at the CHURCH until time of services. The Northwest Funeral Chapel family is served by: O'Bee, Ford & Frazier 6630 W. Hampton Ave. Northwest Funeral Chapel (414)462-6020 O'Bee, Ford & Frazier 6630 W. Hampton Ave. Families served by:
Northwest Funeral Chapel O’Bee, Ford & Frazier
Milwaukee 6630 W. Hampton Avenue Milwaukee, WI 53218 Telephone: (414) 462-6020 Fax: (414) 462-9937
Racine 800 Barker St. Racine, WI 53402 Telephone: (262) 637-6400 Fax: (262) 637-6416
The Milwaukee Community Journal August 26, 2015 Page 5
If you need old parts for light fixtures, toilets, water heaters and compression fittings, National Hardware was the store.”--Maria Bratchett
PULSE OF THE COMMUNITY
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Photos and question by Yvonne Kemp
QUESTION OF THE WEEK: “The National Ace
Hardware store on 1303 N. 4th Street is closing. This store has been in our community for 65 years. What will you miss most about the store when it closes?”
REGINA DOKES: “I’m going to miss having a hands-on hardware store that not only has all the answers that you may need on fixing whatever you may be working on.”
“ACE’D OUT!”
s t e POPULAR
COMMUNITY HARDWARE STORE CLOSING Community residents have been coming to the Ace Hardware store on 4th Street in droves to buy merchandise before the store closes for good. Read our Pulse of the Community where we ask four customers what they’ll miss most about the store.
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Photos by Yvonne Kemp
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THE PULSE
The WHO•WHAT•WHERE• WHEN of YOUR Community!
F o r m e r l y
t h e
4 W
C o m m u n i t y
H a p p e n i n g s
Journalism inter n rec eives a “Thank Yo u ” f o r h i s w o r k at the Communit y Journal
Milwaukee Community Journal Editor Thomas E. Mitchell, Jr. recently precented the newspaper’s intern, Perrion Reid, a certificate of appreciation from the newspaper for his hard work and willingness to learn the ins-and-outs of journalism from a Black perspective during his brief time at the newspaper, particularly while working as a photographer with MCJ staff photographer Yvonne Kemp. Perrion came to the Community Journal as part of the Messmer Journalism Internship program. (Photo by Yvonne Kemp)
Brewers take Milwaukee Fatherhood Initiative out to the ballgame!
Scenes at left of Fathers and sons from the Milwaukee Fatherhood Initiative who recently attended a Milwaiukee Brewers game at Miller Park. (Kemp photo)
CALVIN C. CALDWELL, SR.: The thing I’ll miss most will probably be the hard-to-find parts that you normally can’t find anywhere else.
MARCUS LANDERS: “(The) thing I’ll probably miss most about any small family-style business closing would be the personability of the staff--how they are more willing to help and answer questions-verses the bigger chain stores.”
MARIA BRATCHETT: “I will miss everything about this store (after it closes). This store is the source for old houses with old plumbing and hardware. If you need old parts for light fixtures, toilets, water heaters and compression fittings, National Hardware was the store.”
Y&E
Special Section to YOUR Community Journal
The Milwaukee Community Journal August 26, 2015 Page 6
YOUTH&EDUCATION Where will you be on Day One? Volunteer at your neighborhood school on Day One!
There's nothing more exciting than the first day of school! Now you can be part of that excitement in Milwaukee Public Schools on September 1. Let students, staff and families know their efforts to improve achievement are important. Your presence on Day One reinforces the significant role education plays in the future of our city. I hope you'll join me at one of our MPS schools. Sign up to be part of Day One activities at mpsmke.com/MPSDayOne. You don't want to miss it! Best,
POLL: U.S. schools are too focused on standardized tests Darienne B. Driver, Ed.D. Superintendent of Schools
Article courtesy of the Washington Post via “The Rundown”
Americans overwhelmingly think there is too much emphasis on standardized testing in public schools and that test scores are not the best way to judge schools, teachers or students, according to a national poll. The results released Sunday come from the 47th annual PDK/Gallup poll of attitudes toward public schools, the longest-running survey of Americans' views on public education. The survey showed that the public rejects school accountability built on standardized tests, which has been federal policy through No Child Left Behind, the signature education initiative of President George W. Bush. Signed into law in 2002, No Child mandated annual tests in reading and math and required schools to raise scores every year or face penalties. Through its own policies and grant programs, the Obama administration has further emphasized testing by requiring states to evaluate teachers based on test scores. "You see a solid public rejection of [testing] as a primary policy," said Linda Darling Hammond, a professor at Stanford University's Graduate School of Education, after reviewing the poll. A majority of respondents - 64 percent - said too much emphasis has been placed on testing, and a majority also said the best way to measure the success of a school is not through tests but by whether students are engaged and feel hopeful about the future. "Too many kids in too many schools are bored," said Joshua P. Starr, a former superintendent of Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland who is now chief executive of PDK International, a network of education professionals. "Parents maybe see that and they want their kids to be engaged in schools."
Backpacks and notebooks and pencils...OH MY! 100 children at Silver Spring Neighborhood Center to receive free backpacks and school supplies
MPS earns $35.6 million in competitive grants to support students, highest total in 3 years Funds support early childhood education, improving school climates, improving achievement, before/after school programs, arts education
Students and families in Milwaukee Public Schools will see strong early childhood education opportunities, initiatives to improve school climate, funds to improve student achievement, continued support for strong before- and after-school programs and improved arts education thanks to $35.6 million in competitive grant awards earned by the district. The total is the highest the district has seen in three years. "We are always looking for effective ways to support our students' learning, particularly as we have seen state and federal resources become more limited," MPS Superintendent Dr. Darienne Driver said. "Grants play a key role in those efforts. We're proud of the results and continue to strive for funding to support what our children need." The grant awards received for programming in the 2015-16 school year include: $8.4 million for Head Start early childhood education An additional $8.4 million continuation grant for programs $3.6 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Education for the Resilient Kids project which works with students, families, staff and community-based partners to develop better resolution skills that will improve classroom climate $3.4 million Title I Supplemental Grant to provide funds and resources to help improve student achievement in Title I schools, which serve large numbers of students from lower-income families $2.6 million for 21st Century Community Learning Centers programs (continued on page 7)
One-hundred children who reside in Westlawn—Wisconsin’s largest public housing development—and on Milwaukee’s northwest side, will start the school year with brand new backpacks stuffed with school supplies. The supplies will be distributed at Silver Spring Neighborhood Center during its annual Back to School Resource Fair from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 27. Silver Spring Neighborhood Center is located at 5460 N. 64th St. in Milwaukee, 53218. U.S. Bank employee volunteers along with Eva Brown, community development regional manager and Anthony McHenry, executive director, Silver Spring Neighborhood Center, will distribute the backpacks and school supplies to the children at the center’s outdoor playground. Refreshments will be served. Kids can enjoy the Survive Alive House, Milwaukee Flyers, African drums and dances and much more. “It’s important that children start off the school year with backpacks and the school supplies so they can do their best in school,” said Brown. “We’re looking forward to this exciting event and meeting with the children, parents and the staff at Silver Spring Neighborhood Center.” “Silver Spring Neighborhood Center is taking ownership of the educational process for children who live in Westlawn and its surrounding community. We are streamlining and strengthening our current programs to create a conception to career pipeline so that all children have a shot at success,” said McHenry. “Providing children with school supplies is just one way we can help kids succeed.” The backpacks and school supplies are provided, in part, by a collaboration between U.S. Bank and School-
(continued on page 7)
The Milwaukee Community Journal August 26, 2015 Page 7
SIGNIFYIN’
Northwest Funeral Book Bag Giveaway
Milwaukee Firefighters of Engine Company Nine joined children and their parents at the Back-to-School Book Bag Giveaway sponsored by Northwest Funeral Chapel, Inc. at its Family Activity and Events Center, 4034 W. Good Hope Rd. Children got to climb aboard a firetruck and be firefighters for a little while. (Photo by Yvonne Kemp)
Backpacks and notebooks and pencils...OH MY!
(continued from page 6) house Supplies. The organizations have been partners since 2001. U.S. Bank is proud to be a part of the Milwaukee community. With 49 branches and more than 3,500 employees, U.S. Bank is the number one retail bank in the market. Last year, U.S. Bank employees gave back by spending nearly 2,200 hours volunteering with local organizations. Statewide, U.S. Bank provided nearly $2.3 million in contributions to the community. Silver Spring Neighborhood Center was established in 1958. Founded on a settlement house model, Silver Spring responds to the changing needs of the community. Silver Spring’s mission is to build a safer, stronger neighborhood and community. To work towards its mission, Silver Spring helps individuals reach self-sufficiency. Silver Spring offers a wide spectrum of services—from prenatal care coordination to senior programs—in one facility. Schoolhouse Supplies is a nonprofit organization that
UNIVERSALLY SPEAKING
(continued from page 2) dictate your place in life (i.e. where you live, where you’re educated, where you work, what you own, etc.). I’ve written repeatedly that the issues that the Black community faces are near fatal -- the mass incarceration of black males; the massive levels of unemployment especially amongst Black men between ages 18-35; nearly two-thirds of all blacks living at/or near poverty levels and growing; the demise of the Black family with nearly 90% of all Black children living in homes with one parent and the percentage of Blacks that will never marry increasing at alarming levels. Education attainment is diminishing from the highs of the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s in the areas of high school graduation rates and college enrollment/completion rates coupled with low levels of literacy and math attainment across every grade for Black students. Wealth gains are nearly zero since emancipation and while incomes have risen, they have not nearly risen at the rate needed to keep up with the economic needs of the Black community (estimated to be nearly 75% behind). They are fatal because they are not improving and receive very little attention from Black leadership and public opinion as to the alarming level of disparities that exist. It’s one thing to have statistical deviations of 2-3 points, which is normal and somewhat treatable. When you have statistical deviations of 40-50 points, such as exists between the White and Black community, statisticians have no recourse and for the most part people don’t even bother. What’s even more troubling is that Blacks are more concentrated and segregated than prior to the 60’s integration. Today, nearly 75% of all Black people live in 50-60 urban cities and each of these cities is experiencing similar social and economic conditions (i.e. failed public schools, shrinking tax base, neighborhood disinvestment, high levels of crime and low levels of quality of life, shrinking resources, ballooning cost, etc.). There are nearly 45 million Blacks living in America with nearly 70% struggling socially and economically. Many of the neighborhoods within these cities are segregated racially with a higher concentration of poor people, primarily Blacks. The cost benefit of these neighborhoods are upside down meaning that these neighborhoods cost the city more (i.e. unemployed, entitlements, social service needs, etc.) than they produce revenues (i.e. wage taxes, sales taxes, real estate taxes, etc.). The disparities are so great that Black neighborhoods are getting poorer while White neighborhoods are either stable and/or growing economically. Poor Black people living side-by-side with wealthy white people create a “tale of two cities” and there is little evidence that
provides free school supplies to teachers and students in need. Teachers spend an average of more than $500 of their own money each year to provide basic school supplies for their classrooms. Since opening in January 2000, Schoolhouse Supplies has offset these costs by distributing more than $22.3 million in supplies to classrooms, teachers and students in need. The mission is based on the belief that every child deserves school supplies and has the right to a quality public education. For more information visit www.schoolhousesupplies.org. U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB), with $410 billion in assets as of March 31, 2015, is the parent company of U.S. Bank National Association, the 5th largest commercial bank in the United States. The Company operates 3,172 banking offices in 25 states and 5,016 ATMs and provides a comprehensive line of banking, brokerage, insurance, investment, mortgage, trust and payment services products to consumers, businesses and institutions. Visit U.S. Bancorp on the web at www.usbank.com.
these trends are changing. While the economic realities are prevalent, they pale in comparison to the culture and climate created by generation after generation having little to no idea on how to combat their reality to the degree that a significant level of hopelessness has become infused into the minds of poorest Black people. With this population growing, a number of otherwise abnormal behaviors have become normal in the minds of several generations. Fueled by inferior language and messages of self-destructive and self-gratifying behaviors, too many children are being born in unstable environments and lack the core supports to counter the growth of the negative culture so you find the near total breakdown of any sense of community. In effect, the Black community in America is seriously ill with every system nearly dead or on life support. What is even worse than the above statistics is the ignorance of the so-called experts and what they determine to be the problems. The experts are so wrong because, for the most part, they only focus on the “outcomes”, which I call the “symptoms.” Rarely are the symptoms that they do examine compared to other symptoms, but instead are discussed and approached in isolation. Most, if not all, of the problems of the Black community are interconnected and interrelated. Any diagnosis that does not consider these realities will prove to be WRONG. The Black community is dying both externally and internally because all of its systems are breaking down and the symptoms have been misdiagnosed. The so-called experts rarely address the root cause of the illness head on, which guarantees that the problems will continue to worsen (over the past 50 years, we’ve seen the socialeconomic numbers consistently worsen every ten years). In my opinion, the root cause is the legacy of slavery that has produced a massive wealth gap between whites and Blacks (where you start matters) and America’s institutions have embraced the discarded institution of slavery while perpetuating an American climate and culture of white supremacy and Black inferiority. All of these issues and more only point to the real cause for the condition of the Black community. The Black community must come to grips with the fact that, as a people, we have been seriously damaged internally by the legacy of slavery. This is evident in every aspect of Black life in America. The Black man, in addition to historical references, is bombarded on a daily basis (24/7/365) with negative images and negative inferences regarding thinking Black, living Black, feeling Black, and most importantly, being Black. He has been led to believe and accept that he is inferior. We can say that this doesn’t exist, but I can prove that in every system in America, this is where we began and many times, this is where we end. Carter Woodson once said “to handicap a student for life, you teach him that his black skin is a curse and his struggle to change his condition is hopeless – it’s the worst form of lynching.” I fundamentally believe in the people power but we will have to earn it. No one is going to do for us what we must do for ourselves.
(continued from page 3) nearly an equal percentage is not. In part because of that sad reality, and despite the Obama presidency, the Black poverty rate has increased to 42%; a testament to the failure of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “war on poverty,” public policies that undermined our culture and insidiously encouraged our acceptance of a new social norm that is detrimental to Black growth. How far have we dipped into the pool of despair? Milwaukee’s Black male unemployment rate in the nation is 55.6%. In case, you can’t figure that out, it means one in two Black males between 18 and 40 is without a job. Institutional racism has played a role in that abysmal statistic. But we must also acknowledge that there are thousands of jobs that few of us qualify to apply for. Nearly half of all the unemployed brothers don’t possess a high school diploma. And most of them are void of any marketable job-type skills. It should not be surprising that drugs have become the number one employer of Black males in the central city. But dealing is generally a short-lived career as illustrated by the fact that Wisconsin has the highest male incarceration rate in the country. “Puff, puff and in a cloud of smoke you’ll find yourself behind bars.” How did we get to this point? There are several theories, including the migration of thousands of poor to Wisconsin from the Deeper than Deep South in the 60s and 70s. While earlier Black migrants drove, walked or tap danced their way to Milwaukee in search of jobs and better lives for their families, the 70s migrants were primarily poor, single women seeking the state’s generous welfare benefits. For them, welfare was a significant step up a ladder that led to nowhere. Little did they know that federal welfare policies had been enacted that forced men out of the household, thus creating a poverty culture that took away a key leg on a three legged stool. Many women also unwittingly (I think) prostituted themselves by having more children to enhance their benefits, not taking into consideration that more children meant more responsibilities and a greater strain on limited resources. And without a father present to head the house and guide the children…well, you can finish that sentence. The 1970s also saw a flood of drugs being introduced to the central city. Whether as medication to ease the pain of poverty, or as a boost to accelerate feelings of euphoria amidst depressing realities, the drugs, including crack, wreaked havoc on a generation. Someone recently joked that the current explosion of violence in the Black community is the result of crack babies growing up. Hopefully it is not that simple. Instead we can check box number four--for “all of the above”-- and more. Governmental apathy, a poor educational system that in 1976 was made all the worse by a hoax they convinced us was “integration,” poor public policies, and the loss of
70,000 factory jobs all contributed. And let’s not forget what was obviously a shift in moral standards and cultural foundations that were centered on family and community. Among that myriad of negative social indicators, the loss of the nuclear family probably contributed most to our current plight. Unlike my youth, today few ministers champion the cause of insisting on moral standards. I can only assume they ignore their responsibility out of fear of losing congregants. Black politicians turn their backs on the social dilemma of kids having kids, the links between poverty and single parent-headed houses, and the social phenomenon that has sprouted from the weeds. One Black politician once explained that to discuss, much less criticize the root problems of Black dysfunctionality, is to invite criticism from so-called white liberals and progressives and to be labeled conservative. It is politically correct to blame racism, the governor and the NRA. Sounds like a plan until you realize an agenda of blame and excuses does little to move us forward. I’m not saying we should reenact legislation outlawing fornication among non-married couples (believe it or not, that was a law in Wisconsin until a white couple was caught under the sheets and contested the law). But I’m saying somebody—maybe those paid to solve problems and those who say they were called upon by God—has to take a leadership role, starting with an honest assessment of why there are so many Gerald Harpers sprouting up in our garden. Harper came from a dysfunctional family. He acted out in school. He probably stole to purchase expensive tennis shoes because his estranged mother couldn’t afford them and he “had” to have them to look cool. There were no neighbors willing to assume their role as members of the village, and the social services and juvenile programs failed in their attempts to impress upon Harper the basic essentials needed to be a productive citizen. I would also guess his mother had little experience at being a mother, and his father, who should have taken him through the rites of passage, wasn’t around. Harper instead looked to Snoop Doggy Dude and Two Quarters as his role models. I assume he rarely if ever attended church and the only time he heard a minister was at a funeral to eulogize an irrelevant friend whose only noteworthy life experience was graduating from sixth grade and to smoke a blunt without coughing. And I can all but guarantee when Harper looked in the mirror; he saw a ‘nigger, ‘ or ‘nigga’ or ‘nigra’ staring back at him. Some say you are what you eat. I say you’re whomever stares back at you in the mirror. Anyone with common sense could have predicted that Gerald Harper would one day stand before Judge Donald. And anyone who can figure that out can also conclude that there will be a parade of others destined for the same fate, because we’re not willing to change the status quo. Hotep.
Read the newspaper with its finger on the PULSE of YOUR Community ONLINE! communityjournal.net
The Milwaukee Community Journal August 26, 2015 Page 8
KALEIDOSCOPE the MCJ lifestyle & entertainment section
Sista Speak...Speak Lord!
Zelda Corona Tara R. Pulley Sonya Bowman
SELFCONFIDENCE
Unrepeatable There is a magic about me that is all my own. Wisdom dwells within me that I am proud to share with others. Love surrounds my aura with colors that dance between deep purple and indigo blue. I am powerful like the water fowl… you see, I can walk on land and water. My spirit is magnetic, constantly
OPRAH’S CLOSET One-‐DayPop‐Up Shop
Walk in the shoes of television star Oprah Winfrey and embody her values by helping others in need. Oprah is donating designer gowns, cashmere sweaters, blouses, skirts, pants, shoes, scarves and hats from her Chicago closet to help local pastors raise money for their local and worldwide disaster relief fund and International Ministries in Africa. Choose from designs by Oscar de la Renta, Ralph Lauren, Isaac Mizrahi, Pamela Roland, Armani, Tory Burch, Gucci, Rachel Roy, Prabal Gurung, Escada, Diane von Furstenberg, Gianfranco Ferre, Calvin Klein, St. John, Kevan Hall, Donna Karan, Jimmy Choo, plus more. (Women’s size range 6–16) Oprah’s sister, Patricia Lee, is a member of Heritage International Ministries COGIC, where Pastors Dr. Nathaniel Stampley, Sr. and Carolyn Stampley lead humanitarian efforts to feed, clothe and heal those in need in Liberia, Ghana, Republic of
From The Black
by Tony Courtney “Dedicated to Black Men That Got Black Men’s Fronts” – This page will appear in the October 5th edition of the Milwaukee Community Journal Newspaper prior to the 20th Anniversary of the Million Man March that will celebrated in Washington D.C. October 10, 2015. Brothers we are inviting you to participate on this page by sponsoring the name of a Black man that has played an instrumental role in helping to guide your life by keeping you on the right track or helping you to get back on track. There are many Black men in our lives such as Grand Fathers, Fathers, Uncles, Brothers, Cousins, Teachers, Mentors, Coaches, Ministers, Gang Leaders, Barbers, Father-in-Laws, Brother-In- Laws, etc. that gave us great insight about what we would be facing in life as a Black man whether we listened at the time they told us or not. We know that without
Handcrafted I am cool. I am proud. I am sure. I am reliable. I am certain
I am loyal. All because I have complete faith in God! Zelda Corona Vision Represents Faith!
Role Model
Reality TV... It is unfortunate of how we are portrayed in these
drawing in the good that God sends to me. I step tall, walking strong in spirit, as if invisible rose petals are lined under my feet. I am royalty, for I am a chosen offspring of the Lamb. I have no fear in asking a question or for advice from another… that I do not know the answer to, for this trait shows my security. The mold was broken after me…As it was for all of us…You see, I am, you are, we all are…Unrepeatable. Sonya M. Bowman “It Is What It Is”
Congo, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and here at home. Join us, have fun shopping Oprah’s Closet and help make the world a better place. Tuesday, September 1, 2015 Location: Pfister Hotel 424 E. Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, WI Doors Open 9:00 am–7:00 pm Complimentary Pfister Hotel parking for all purchases. Must present parking pass at time of purchase to be validated. There will be a Private Showing from 8:45 am–10:45 am For Private Showing Only-‐$25 Donation includes, Champagne and Light Faire For Private Reservations call 414‐975-‐8200. A preview of clothing and interviews are available for radio, television, print and Internet. Contact: Florida Perry-‐Smith. Premier Events, 414-‐975-‐8200. For more information on the mission work of the Heritage International Ministries, COGIC go to: www.heritageintmin.org and Least of These International Ministries go to: www.leastoftheseintmin.org Special thanks to corporate sponsor Marcus Corporation and the following contributors: The Pfister Hotel, Holzman Furs-‐The Van Parijs Collection, Todd Mrozinski and Logan Productions.
this knowledge and wisdom that was conveyed to us , we could have made some decisions in life that would have proved disastrous. We also know that many of us were in disastrous situation already and the advice we were given helped us to turn our situations and our lives around. We encourage you to take the time to honor the men living or those who have joined the world of our ancestors. The cost to participate is $25.00 per name. If you are interested contact me by calling 414-374-2364 or email me at Anthony.courtney@ymail.com. Old School: We Ain’t Through Yet! – We invite Black men over 60 years of age to join us on Monday, August 31, 2015 at the Wisconsin African American Women’s Center 3020 W. Vliet St. from 4:30PM -5:45PM. We are meeting to share ideas of how we can began to play a significant role in turning our community around. “Stress free for Life” – The most important thing you can be doing in life at this time is developing
MEN EMPOWERING MEN
The Milwaukee Community Journal August 26, 2015 Page 9
shows. We as Women of Color appear to be angry, uneducated, shallow and materialistic. Media reaches all avenues and this is how society makes their judgment of us by what they see on TV and read on the blogs. I find this so disheartening. I ask that we as Women of Color, continue to strive and strengthen each other and be the Role Models that we so need in our communities. Know the difference between Tom Foolery and what's Real... Keeping it Real Tara R Pulley
YOUR Community Journal is continuing its focus on Men Empowering Men by periodically presenting positive profiles of local Black men who are empowering other Black men in education, business, government, healthcare, sports, and the arts.
Thad McGrew
Manager – Emerging Markets, Milwaukee Brewers Baseball Club
Thad McGrew is currently in his nineth season with the Milwaukee Brewers in his current position as Manager – Emerging Markets. Thad McGrew began his career with the Brewers in 2007, prior to the start of the baseball season. In his role, his primary responsibilities include increasing the Brewers urban consumer fan base through a combination of the following efforts: • Developing concepts for marketing and promotional programs that specifically target African American and Hispanic sports fans (urban consumers) • Managing projects internally through inter-departmental relationships and externally with independent service providers • Produce, execute and manage an array of events that target urban consumers • Pursue and secure corporate sponsorship relationships to sup- Thad McGrew port departmental initiatives • Developing relationships with key community organizations, social groups and key influencers • Build relationships with existing community events to develop ticket sales partnership/promotions Prior to arriving to Milwaukee, Thad spent 8+ years working for Nike in Southern California where he served as Regional Marketing Director in Urban Sports Initiatives. He was also director for a successful AAU Boys Basketball program for 18+ years where he guided numerous players to major Division I schools via earned basketball scholarships. To date, more than 20 of his former players have successfully matriculated to the National Basketball Association. Born in Chicago, IL, Thad has lived in New Jersey and Los Angeles, CA. Residing in Los Angeles the majority of his life, Thad attended Junipero Serra High School in Gardena (ironically, the same high school as Brewers Game Day commentator Davey Nelson – a few years later, of course). He then attended the University of California, Los Angeles, where he earned his undergraduate degree in History. Thad currently enjoys all sports and is actively involved in the development of youth baseball training for urban Milwaukee youth. He and his wife Tracey reside in Wauwatosa, WI, and his daughter, Ciera, is currently attending Santa Monica College in Los Angeles.
Michael Hall
Oprah Winfrey
your brain and your mind and keeping it healthy. You need to know what kinds of supplements you need to keep it sharp and know about the things you need to eliminate to keep it that way. Order this book today “Stress free for Life” by Ra Un Nefer Amen by calling 718-469-3199 from the Taui Network. Classes on Egyptian (Khamitic) Spirituality – Come and learn about the teachings that made Ancient Egypt one of the greatest Black Civilizations in the world. Many of us are astounded by the great accomplishments and contributions of this great civilization, but many people do not know that this civilization was Black. Classes begin Sunday, August 30, 2015 at 2:00PM & 3:30PM. The cost of class is $5.00 for one class and $7.00 for two classes. Classes are three weeks long and are held on August 30th, September 6th and September 13th. Classes will be held at the Ausar Auset Society 4712 W. Fon du Lac. (upstairs).
Home is Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Real life started after graduation from Boys’ Tech and Trade High School in 1970. After a quarter term at Milwaukee School of Engineering, I join the US Air Force. As a military Instructor in the Air Force, my primary job was to train Air Force Ballistic Missile Analysis Technicians (BMAT). In 1975, I switched from Air Force to the Army Security Agency (now the Intelligence and Communication Command), where from 1976 to 1979 my secondary responsibility became the training of Electronic Repair Technicians for both tactical and strategic applications. After serving for a short time as an Army aviator, I went back to training development and implementation, data analysis, and project management until retirement in 1991. My primary responsibly during this time was, as is with all soldiers, a combat soldier in varies parts of the world. I am fortunate enough to have done business on every continent except Antarctica. After retirement Michael Hall from the military, I came back to Milwaukee to start my second career. From 1992 till 2002 I served as Designer and Technical Instructor of Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC) and Computer Numeric Controllers (CNC) (both hardware and software) for Harnishfeger Inc., Allen Bradley (Rockwell Automation), and GE Fanuc Automation. From the Quality side of things, I am an ISO 9000 Auditor with Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma Certifications. From 1993 to 1994, I served part-time as a registered representative and business analysis for the then Strong Funds mutual fund group. My civilian supervisory life started with an Operations Supervisor position at JCP Logistics L.P. in 2002 and has carried me through Supervisor of Manufacturing at Rockwell and Unit Supervisor at Cooper Power Systems. My last two positions held were profit and loss (P&L) responsibilities as Production Manager at HC Brill (a bakery company) and Plant Manager at Nohl Composites. I am currently consulting on projects within the Milwaukee area. I currently have an AAS and BS from Excelsior College in New York, a BA from Western New England College, a Masters of Business Administration (Human Resources) and a Masters of Project Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University. Within two years I hope to have earned my Ph.D. in Leadership and Organization Change from Walden University. Most of my undergraduate work was earned while in the military stationed overseas.
THE REBIRTH OF BLACK RAGE
The Milwaukee Community Journal August 26, 2015 Page 10
(continued from page 3)
“THE GENERATION THAT HEARD KANYE WEST SAY “GEORGE BUSH DOESN’T CARE ABOUT BLACK PEOPLE,” THEN PUSHED THE VOTE FOR THE FIRST BLACK PRESIDENT, THEN WATCHED AMERICA CONTINUE TO NOT CARE ABOUT BLACK PEOPLE, SIMPLY HAS HAD ENOUGH. AS THE DEATHS OF YOUNG, UNARMED BLACK PEOPLE CONTINUE TO BECOME HEADLINES, AND SOCIAL MEDIA HOLDS MORE HASHTAG FUNERALS, THE HOPE HAS TURNED TO DESPAIR, AND THE DESPAIR INTO RAGE.”
moments of live television. Speaking as if he were reading from the teleprompter, his cadence straddling the line between stiff and natural, he looked straight into the camera and said, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.” Had this happened even five years earlier, it would have been newsy fodder for comedians and might even have made its way into some year-end retrospectives. But it would also have receded more easily into a cultural footnote, a had-to-see-it-to-believe-it moment in television. In September 2005, however, millennials were already taking more direct control of our media diets; we were deciding for ourselves which moments were fleeting and which were definitive. YouTube had launched earlier that year and was already starting to catch on; the idea of the Internet providing video on demand was becoming more of the norm. I was back on campus for my second year of college when this telethon aired, and for weeks afterward, if someone mentioned that they had missed Kanye’s declaration, another person would open a laptop, conduct a quick Google search, and pull up the video for a crowd of onlookers. Facebook, founded the previous year, didn’t yet support video links, but we could all post on one another’s walls some variation of jokes involving West, Bush, or not caring about black people. With these new technological possibilities, and the most succinct political statement of the year, West was able to further ingratiate himself with a generation of young people who already loved his music, but who now had, in him, our first relatable expression of black rage on a national stage. *** Black rage, as a political message, had all but disappeared from the cultural and political landscape by the time my generation came of age. The aspirations of the black political class had shifted from the anger that animated the civil-rights and Black Power era to seeking influence through electoral politics, where black rage does not translate into votes. Jesse Jackson had gone from agitator and organizer to presidential candidate, while Oakland, New Orleans, Chicago, Baltimore, New York, and many other cities had voted their first black mayors into office, and Douglas Wilder, in my home state of Virginia, had become the nation’s first elected black governor. The Rev. Al Sharpton could still command media attention, but his expressions of rage were diluted by his celebrity-activist status and the larger-than-life persona that made him a prime target for caricature. The world of hip-hop that West came out of had also long since excised political anger in favor of narratives of material wish fulfillment. Of course, there were always artists like Dead Prez and the Coup, groups with a radical, socialist Black Power message, but the days of Public Enemy and NWA selling millions of records of uncut black rage and becoming part of mainstream American culture were no more. Whereas Ice Cube had once crashed the Billboard charts with an album featuring the song “I Wanna Kill [Uncle] Sam,” by the time Kanye West reached prominence, most rappers were searching for an “In da Club” clone.
That’s what was important about West’s “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” comment. This kind of rhetorical expression of black rage was marginalized throughout most of the relatively prosperous 1990s, when there was no longer a Reagan or a Bush to serve as an identifiable enemy, and the nation’s children were being taught that racism was essentially over because we were committed to celebrating multiculturalism. The second Bush proved an easier foil than his Democratic predecessor, but his historic appointments of Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice gave him the sort of symbolic cover we’ve come to accept as evidence that racism is a nonfactor. In 2001, when Bush took office, a Gallup poll showed that 32 percent of black people believed that “relations between blacks and whites” would eventually be worked out, and by 2004 that number had risen to 43 percent. Black rage, at its most potent, cuts through that kind of bullshit. Black rage announces itself at the Women’s Convention in Akron, Ohio, and says, “Ain’t I a woman?” Black rage stands before hundreds of thousands at the Lincoln Memorial and says, “America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds.’” Black rage says to the Democratic National Convention, “I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.” Black rage says “Fuck tha Police” and “Fight the Power.” At its best, black rage speaks to the core concerns of black people in America, providing a radical critique of the system of racism that has upheld all of our institutions and made living black in America a special form of hell. But that anger has not only drawn attention to injustice; it has driven people to action, sparking movements and spurring them forward. At the very least, the public expression of black rage has allowed communities and people who have felt isolated in their own anger to know that they are not alone. This is what West’s telethon moment did. It was replayed over and over, adopted as slang, fit to whatever situation one was in, because it gave language to the pain we felt watching the nightmare in New Orleans play out after Hurricane Katrina made landfall. When the levees broke and the water rose, a city full of black people attempted to wade through it alone. The sick, the young, the elderly were being left for dead in one of the most wealthy countries in the world. The media spoke of people attempting to survive as if they were savages (a study by linguist Geoffrey Nunberg showed that in articles that used either “refugee” or “evacuee” to describe the survivors, “refugee” was far more likely—68 versus 32 percent—to appear in stories that also mentioned “poor” and/or “black” people). And you couldn’t help but think, because you knew it was true, that had this been a city with a larger white population, there wouldn’t have been so much death and destruction, or at least there would have been greater relief. When West said, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people,” he wasn’t just speaking about George W. Bush. It was an indictment of an America that doesn’t care about black people, and that elected a president to carry on the tradition. *** There was a sign, a few years later, that the black rage to which Kanye gave voice might turn into a movement. In 2007, young people of color led the charge seeking justice for the Jena Six, a group of teenage boys in Jena, Louisiana, who had been charged with attempted murder for what amounted to a schoolyard fight. Thousands of young black people used social media to raise awareness of their case, with new Facebook groups dedicated to justice for the Jena Six appearing nearly every day during the summer of 2007. Hundreds traveled to Louisiana, and thousands marched on the day that Mychal Bell was to be sentenced; he had been convicted of lesser but still serious felony charges that could have sent him to prison for up to 22 years. Thousands of students organized protests on their college campuses in solidarity. Al Sharpton called it the “beginning of the 21stcentury civil-rights movement.” At the time, it truly felt that way. But then Barack Obama happened. In 2008, young black people turned out to vote for Obama at historic levels, helping to ensure that he would become the first black president of the United States. But this meant the activist energy that had been building since Hurricane Katrina, and had caught a bit more momentum with the Jena Six, was being redirected to electoral politics and the messaging of Obama’s candidacy. Black rage was being channeled into black hope. On its face, that isn’t entirely bad, but the particular brand of black hope that Obama represented was one that muted black rage, and its possibilities, altogether. This was first evident in Obama’s famous speech on race. During the 2008 campaign, the thensenator had to address the controversy that had arisen around his attendance at the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, presided over by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. The pastor was in the spotlight after tapes were uncovered by ABC News in which he was heard saying things like “God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human. God damn America for as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme.” Obama’s association with Wright was used by his opponents to paint him as some kind of secret black radical, obviously unfit for the presidency. Obama needed to distance himself from the pastor who had officiated at his wedding and baptized his children. He accomplished this in what has become known as the “Philadelphia race speech.” In it, Obama denounced Wright’s inflammatory rhetoric, saying that his words had the “potential…to widen the racial divide” and that he obviously didn’t agree with everything his former pastor had to say. But he also said that Wright was like family and that the Obamas couldn’t disown him. The speech was regarded as an instant classic, a treatise on race in America that we all needed to hear, from the first viable black presidential candidate in our history. But it was also the first major speech by the first viable black presidential candidate to throw water on the flames of black
rage. “That anger may not get expressed in public, in front of white coworkers or white friends,” Obama said. “But it does find voice in the barbershop or the beauty shop or around the kitchen table. At times, that anger is exploited by politicians, to gin up votes along racial lines, or to make up for a politician’s own failings…. “That anger is not always productive; indeed, all too often it distracts attention from solving real problems; it keeps us from squarely facing our own complicity within the African-American community in our own condition; it prevents the African-American community from forging the alliances it needs to bring about real change.” But black rage is about holding America accountable. It does not distract “attention from solving real problems”; it illuminates those problems and asks America to confront their roots. If black rage has prevented alliances from forging, those are likely not alliances that would have yielded much in the way of progress anyway. As president, Obama continued to blunt the edge of black rage, at a time when the reasons for that anger were stacking up in plain sight. In fairness, his job as president is not to represent black America—and if he were ever to register any type of anger in office, the already racist coverage that follows him would only worsen. That doesn’t, however, mean that he needed to make black anger seem unjustified or undignified. As president, he speaks with a different moral authority for many people. Because he is the first black president, that moral authority is all the more highly regarded when he is speaking about race. When Henry Louis Gates Jr. was arrested in front of his own home, Obama’s response was to call him to the White House garden for a beer summit with the arresting officer, thereby sending the message that racial profiling is, meh, not that big a deal. It didn’t even matter that this happened to a celebrated Harvard professor and PBS documentarian who serves as an avatar for black mainstream assimilation and acceptance—or that Gates himself had been enraged. Obama’s solution was to calm the black anger down, come together over a pint, and talk it out. This invalidation of black rage felt even more insidious when Obama used the tragedy of Trayvon Martin’s death and the subsequent acquittal of George Zimmerman to reinforce ideas about black male criminality. In his remarks following the verdict, Obama at first did what no other president has had the capacity to do: He spoke about Martin’s death in very personal terms, including the experience of being racially profiled and living with the burden of the stereotypes attached to young black men. It represented the best of what having a black president has meant. But then he pivoted and said, “I think the African-American community is also not naive in understanding that, statistically, somebody like Trayvon Martin was probably statistically more likely to be shot by a peer than he was by somebody else.” False moral equivalencies of this kind are a pattern for the president when discussing race. Whereas Obama was uniquely positioned to relate Martin’s story to his own, as the first black president, he has also been uniquely positioned to speak with authority on the ways that racism has built America. But even when he’s risen to the task, Obama has done so by making the perceived moral failings of black Americans as much a part of that story as racism itself. His rhetoric provides further ammunition for those who believe that black people’s anger at racism is unjustified. *** But Martin’s death and Zimmerman’s acquittal also represented a turning point. The generation that heard Kanye West say “George Bush doesn’t care about black people,” then pushed the vote for the first black president, then watched America continue to not care about black people, simply has had enough. As the deaths of young, unarmed black people continue to become headlines, and social media holds more hashtag funerals, the hope has turned to despair, and the despair into rage. That rage consumed the streets of Ferguson when Michael Brown was killed; it set fire to the streets of Baltimore when Freddie Gray was killed; and it sent Bree Newsome up the flagpole at the South Carolina state Capitol to bring down the Confederate flag in the wake of nine people being killed in the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Black rage is back, cutting to the core of white supremacy and demanding that America change. This movement, known across the country and the world as “Black Lives Matter,” has pushed an agenda to address police violence, racial profiling, and racial inequality onto the national political stage. When black rage is felt, organized, and radically expressed, this is what it does best— shift consciousness and make the needs and concerns of black America part of the body politic. It has made presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton take notice, and it has even moved Obama. At the 2015 NAACP convention, the president delivered his strongest speech yet on criminal-justice reform, calling for the end of mass incarceration, the reduction or elimination of mandatory-minimum sentencing, the restoration of voting rights for the formerly incarcerated, the end of rape in prisons, and more—without the added moralizing about sagging pants, missing fathers, and “acting white” that he’d grown so fond of. An opportunity may have been missed in those post-Katrina days, when the words “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” still buzzed. But a decade later, the resurgence of black rage in the political sphere is finally ready to make America face its racist past and present. Or burn it down trying. Mychal Denzel Smith is a contributing writer at The Nation, a blogger at TheNation.com and a Knobler Fellow at the Nation Institute. He is the author of Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching, forthcoming from Nation Books.
The Milwaukee Community Journal August 26, 2015 Page 11
The Milwaukee Community Journal August 26, 2015 Page 12