FIRST PERSON
From Ferguson to Milwaukee (and beyond) By Ald. Milele A. Coggs
Broken Hearts, Broken Trust, Broken System
From Ferguson to Milwaukee and across the U.S., the devaluation of Black life is widespread and at epidemic levels.
Whether it is white police officers in Ferguson or Black men on 15th & Atkinson in Milwaukee, the senseless and violent end for too many young Black souls continues on.
COMMUNITY OURNAL J
The outrage, anger, hurt and pain that is felt with any senseless loss of life is present regardless of the race or the occupation of the offender. However, it is particularly troubling – and polarizing – when those entrusted to protect and serve the public are the ones who have taken a life. The August 9th murder of 18-year-old African-American Mike Brown at the hands of Darren Wilson, a white City of Ferguson po- Ald. Milele Coggs addresses the media about the purpose of Tuesday’s demonstration in front of the Federal Courthouse building on Wisconsin Ave. in rememberance of Michael Brown, lice officer, has sparked nights of protests and unrest in Ferguson
Community Rallies for Justice Protestors demand justice in Ferguson and Milwaukee
the young man who was brutally killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri two weeks
(continued on page 3) ago. Brown was funeralized earlier that same day. (Photo by Yvonne Kemp)
PULSE OF THE COMMUNITY
Photos and Question by Yvonne Kemp
During Tuesday’s rally for justice in memory of the Michael Brown killing and the killing of Black men in Milwaukee and nationally, we asked for participants can what happened in Fergusion Missouri happen here, given the current negative relations between the city’s Black community and the Milwaukee Police Department?
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VOL. XXXIX Number 5 August 27, 2014
The Milwaukee
WISCONSIN’S LARGEST A F R I C A N A M E R I C A N N E W S PA P E R
MARKASA CHAMBERS (member of the African American Roundtable): “Absolutely! We have already had our own cases here in Milwaukee. There has been the Dontre Hamilton case and many more. We pray as the results and findings released by the D.A.’s office (in St. Louis) are in the (Brown) family’s favor, otherwise there may be an issue with the Black community.” Ajamou Butler (pictured above second from left), the founder of the “Heal the Hood” event, greets attendees at the corner of North 24th and West Keefe Avenue where the end-of the-summer block party was held. The weekend event addressed the increase in violence and crime in the city. Attendees were encouraged to partake in discussions about approaches to solve the problem. Among the more notable attendees were (pictured at right with Butler): Atty. Michael F. Hupy and Ald. Milele Coggs. A number of community businesses and organizations participated in the block party. Abel Muhammad of the local Nation of Islam Mosque, was the event’s keynote speaker. (Photos by Yvonne Kemp)
ELDER JACOB GATLIN (Redemption Fellowship Church): “This is already happening in Milwaukee and has been since 2002 until now with Dontre Hamilton at Red Arrow Park! Shot (multiple) times. Ferguson just brought light to a bigger issue we already have in Milwaukee...we need leaders to take a stand for our people!”
Minority representation at groundbreaking for downtown building
ATTY. VERONA SWANIGAN: “I believe it is possible for it to happen here if change is not forthcoming. The people are restless, and at this point the people are awaiting an answer. The people deserve the truth and a system that they can have faith in. The system must be unbiased and without social and political conflict. The local judicial system must allow the federal system to review, investigate and prosecute all police misconduct and excessive force allegations.”
MIKE WILDER (co-chair of the African American Roundtable): “Absolutely! Unlike Ferguson, we have not reached a boiling point here. I pray that we have NO more victims of violence at the hands of the law. I pray that local law enforcement works hard to begin the process of repairing the very strained relations between the Milwaukee Police Department and the Black community.”
Black and Hispanic representatives from politics and business attended the recent groundbreaking for the construction of Northwestern Mutual’s 32-story, 1.1 million sq. ft. high-rise office tower and public space slated for completion in 2017. Minority contractors will have a hand in the construction of the office tower with workers from the Black and Hispanic communities coming from the city. The project will preserve 1,100 downtown jobs and add 1,900 new ones.
Chicago Little League team comes home to heroes welcome!
Community groups, activists, political figures and concerned citizens descended on the federal courthouse on Wisconsin Avenue, downtown to express their dissatisfaction with the judicial system and law enforcement in Milwaukee and Ferguson, Mo. in light of the death, protests and rioting that took place in that St. Louis suburb the last two weeks following the death of 18-year-old African American Mike Brown at the hands of Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson, and its repurcussions on issues of race, racial profiling and justice. In Milwaukee, protestors demanded action and justice in a number of outstanding local cases of police brutality, including the death of Dontre Hamilton in Red Arrow park at the hands of a Milwaukee Police officer several months ago. (Photos by Yvonne Kemp)
Though they lost to South Korea 8-4 in the championship game of the Little League World Series, members of the Jackie Robinson West Little League team from Chicago still got a championship salute from fans and supporters during a Grand Slam Parade through downtown Chicago earlier this week. The team, and Philadelphia Little Leaguer Mo’ne Davis (inset picture at left), stole the spotlight with their play in Williamsport, Pa. making them the feel-good stories of the tournament and giving the violence plagued Chicago Southside residents something to cheer and feel proud about. (Photos courtesy of Associated Press and Gene J. Puskar)
The Milwaukee Community Journal August 27, 2014 Page 2
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PERSPECTIVES FIRST PERSON FIRST PERSON
From Ferguson to Milwaukee (and beyond) (continued from page 1)
“As painful as it is to watch the coverage of the unrest in Ferguson, whether one wants to admit it or not, Milwaukee is just a death or two away from being Ferguson. All of the same ingredients are here: Conditions of poverty, joblessness, despair, segregation and various other racial inequities are here in Milwaukee, just as they are in a Ferguson. The death of Mike Brown was Ferguson’s spark and if Milwaukee does not make changes soon, I believe our spark is coming.”
and across the nation. Many eyewitnesses said Brown had his hands raised in submission at the time some of the fatal six bullets were fired. Brown's name is now added to the unfortunate and long list of African Americans who have lost their lives at the hands of a police officer. Several Milwaukee families know all too well the broken heart, broken trust, and broken system the Brown family is now coming to grips with. Heartbroken because no parent ever expects to bury their child, broken trust because officers are supposed to protect and serve and be allies in efforts to keep the peace, and broken “system” because of how these cases are too often handled, with the ultimate adjudication in favor of the officer (with rarely any charge or penalty) and without the justice sought by the family and the community. As painful as it is to watch the coverage of the unrest in Ferguson, whether one wants to admit it or not, Milwaukee is just a death or two away from being Ferguson. All of the same ingredients are here: Conditions of poverty, joblessness, despair, segregation and various other racial inequities are here in Milwaukee, just as they are in a Ferguson. The death of Mike Brown was Ferguson’s spark and if Milwaukee does not make changes soon, I believe our spark is coming. The question becomes what can be done to prevent from setting this city on fire, to fix that which is obviously broken. While the eradication of poverty, and dismantling of systemic racism and all of its vestiges will likely take generations, there are countless things we can do today to fight to improve community-police relations, demonstrate the tremendous value of all human life, and to ensure a sense of justice right now. Whether it is pushing for the continued diversification of the Milwaukee police force, supporting the police officer body camera legislation I have introduced, continuing to hold the Fire and Police Commission accountable, limiting local police access to military grade weaponry, voting to help determine who gets elected as District Attorney and who selects the leadership in the local police department, and who truly makes our laws, or even things as simple as allowing your voice to be heard by participating in local rallies for Justice, there are so many possibilities for pushing for change. We must do all we can from our individual vantage points communally, legislatively, in our homes, on our blocks and at the polls to change the climate and work diligently so no other families have to deal with the broken heart Mike Brown's family is dealing with right now. In turn, we must work to mend the broken trust between the community and those who are given the responsibility to protect and serve, and to fix our justice system to ensure that it makes clear that Black life is valuable. Mending hearts, rebuilding trust and changing the justice system is not easy but it's what we must do from Ferguson to Milwaukee, and beyond.
THE MILWAUKEE COMMUNITY JOURNAL 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: 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. As-
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Ald. Milele Coggs scores and the hit dog hollers FIRST PERSON response by Judge Russell Stamper to Ald. Coggs commentary on Ferguson and Milwaukee
Judge Stamper
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Below is Judge Stamper’s Facebook response to comments made by Ald. Milele Coggs in the city’s daily newspaper. The paper quotes the alderwoman from a press statement she released last week pointing out the simularities between Ferguson, Mo. and Milwaukee, and that what happend in Ferguson can happen here. Coggs’ entire statement starts on the front page and is continued to your immediate left.) Alderwoman Milele Coggs is once again our heroine, sounding the warning to this city of its proximity to the brink of chaos. She wisely points out the similarities between Milwaukee and Ferguson, joining the voices of the many others who sense the clear and present danger. One of the several strong suggestions up for Common Council consideration is the outfitting of the MPD with cameras on their person as a monitoring technique, a wise and informative use of modern technology which will surely shorten the investigative delay involved in this city's police misconduct cases. Imagine how strong a case we would have if the serial rapist, Michael Vagnini, had been so outfitted or the Red Arrow Park killer cop who abruptly woke up a citizen sleeping peacefully, Dontre Hamilton, beat him with a baton and then executed him with multiple gunshots. We also need an elected Fire & Police Commission to replace the prejudiced kangaroo outfit that rubber stamps police misconduct and brutality. Milele demonstrates the courage and spirit of self defense that reminds some of us of Harriet Tubman, Ida B. Wells and Rosa Parks, all bold Black women who took strong stands of resistance against slavery or the apartheid of racist white supremacy. Unfortunately, the head of the “local Gestapo” cannot bring himself to acknowledge the merit of Milele's observations. He would much prefer to defend his gangsters in blue, describing as "ill-informed" the fact based critical opinions and observations that are issuing forth like many streams from various elected officials, opinions which help expose the pain, misery and hurt inflicted by Flynn's gang. Flynn needs to go. He has no sympathy, no sensitivity, no love, no respect, no recognition of Black humanity. He just needs to go!--Used with permission from Judge Stamper’s Facebook page
The Milwaukee Community Journal August 27, 2014 Page 3
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “Sometimes you struggle so hard to feed your family one way, you forget to feed them the other way, with spiritual nourishment. Everybody needs that.”--James Brown, the Godfather of Soul
The era of social regression and why the Black man and his community has not progressed in 40 years – Part II By Taki S. Raton
Research compiled by James P. Smith and Finis R. Welch appear to indicate that during the period of 1940 to 1980, African Americans made significant economic progress due, in their findings, to three factors – a significant narrowing of the racial educational gap, improved quality of Black schools and the migration of Blacks to the North.
However, cites the literature, the 1980 to 2000 period is characterized, in their words, “by a nearly complete stagnation in Black economic progress.” Using Smith and Welch as foundational research for their studies, Neal and Rick, “The Prison Boom and the Lack of Black Progress after Smith and Welch,” looks at the period from around 1980’s into the present. The authors conclude that the growth of incarceration rates among Black men in recent decades combined with the sharp drop in Black employment rates during the Great Recession have left most Black men in a position relative to White men that is really no better than the position Black men occupied following only a few years after the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It is not the intention of this MCJ writing to dissect the University of Chicago findings. This study is noted only to lend substance to the work done by a multitude of African American scholars, thinkers, and writers who have looked at this very same period from the 1970’s to the present as being regretfully unique in the steady decline of the quality of African American life and social structure within its central city communities. And as noted in Part I of this series – even to include the era of enslavement – these years from the 1970’s to the present is the only period in African Americana where a steady trend of Black social regression in relationship to the mainstream character is evident. I have often for example in MCJ writings, in my classrooms and lectures cited the 1965 works of Dr. Daniel Patrick Moynihan who in his findings on “The Black Family: A Case For National Action” notes that a weakening family structure and the rise in single-parent households has led to what he terms a “Tangle of Pathology” thereby visioning a predictable rise in juvenile delinquency, joblessness, school failure, crime, and fatherlessness. Moynihan cites, and subsequent work in 1986 moving forward to the present, has proven him to be correct, as he noted that this “Tangle of Pathology” would become in the Black community self-fueling, self-generating, and self-destructive regardless of what the government or “others” do or not do. He contends that in America, that there is one “unmistakable lesson in American history” that states: “A community that allows a large number of men to grow up in broken families, dominated by women never acquiring a stable relationship to male authority, never acquiring rational expectations about the future – that community ask for and gets chaos.” Citing briefly past MCJ writing accounts under this by-line covering these past 40 years, we have noted that Black people are worse off financially than any other group where, collectively speaking, we are the “poorest of all ethnic and racial groups” in America (January 9, 2014). As reported by the March 3, 2013 Urban Institute, African American families have suffered the worst decline of all ethnicities since the 1965 Moynihan report on “The Black Family: A Case for National Action.” Today, the out-of-wedlock childbirth in the Black community stands at 72 percent as compared to 1950 when only 17 percent of African American children lived in a home with their mothers but not their father.
T
.The Urban Institute’s report additionally underscored another disturbing social trend, reflecting the above findings of Neal and Rick on the mass incarceration of Black men. The study shared that by 2010, “one out of every six Black men had spent some time in prison as compared with about 1 out of 33 white men.” As of 2013, 1 in 3 Black males are predicted to have their name listed in some aspect of criminal judicial recordings, also citing the disproportionate arrest of Black males to White males during this period. Author Michelle Alexander posted in the March 20, 2011 edition of Colorlines that as of that year, there were more Black men in prison then were enslaved in 1850. In an October 14, 2010 published MCJ article by this writer, within the nine-and-a half years from 2001 through 2010, 67,000 Black Americans were murdered by Black hands. Given the 67,000 figure, that would be 64,068 more Black folks killed by Black folk than were murdered by the Ku Klux Klan during the 29 years between 1889 and 1918. “Yes We Can: The 2010 Schott 50 State Report on Black Males in Public Education” cites that the overall 2007/2008 graduation rate for Black males in the U.S. was only 48 percent. “I don’t like what I see,” writes James Clingman in his March 21, 2013 AfricanGlobe writing “Is it Too Late for Black People in America – A Must Read.” He adds that, “In 2013, Black people are mired in the worse conditions since we got our ‘civil rights.’ Despite the election and reelection of a Black President, Black people in general are still at the bottom, steeped in poverty, poor health, short life spans, crime, unemployment and poor education.” Continuing, he posits that, “we have sunk to new levels of selfishness, self-hate, and insecurity. Our collective prosperity is virtually nonexistent because we have fallen for the ploy that directs us towards ‘I’ rather than ‘we.’” Additional Factors contributing to this regressive state of affairs from the period 1970 to the present very much include J. Edgar Hoover’s COINTELPRO which was not only a “war” to compromise the then and coming prominent Black leadership, but it was also an attack on Black manhood in general with a target on the Black family structure to ensure that a weakened Black family unit – not one of Black strength - would emerge out of the 60’s into the 70’s and beyond. Buying into this designed pattern, noting yet another factor destabilizing the Black community and the Black family in particular, would be the Black woman’s entry into the Women’s Movement which ultimately over the 41 years from 1973 into 2014 would result in a nearly reversal of gender roles surfacing a Black female dominant-aggressive nature and a less than traditional dominant Black male natured personality which again – as Moynihan above cites – is non-functional and not in accord within a male dominated natured society. But in the space remaining, we would like to focus specifically on the ill vision of civil rights and integration over these past 40-plus years which in this writer’s mind was instrumental in the decline of the Black man and his community. Dr. Claude Anderson posits that it is natural and common for all groups in multicultural pluralistic America, and on their own soil, to be nationalistic, anchoring the Highest Order Perfect Best of who they have been, the Highest Order Perfect Best of who they are in their present, and the Higher Order Perfect Best of that which they are expected to become in the future through their children. A group’s nationalism, says Anderson helps their member-
(continued on page 11)
he state of Black America is in crisis. Despite our best efforts to date, the general condition within our neighborhoods and schools continue to deteriorate for too many of our children and families. We continue to celebrate our individual successes without an understanding of what is happening to us a group.
Rahim Islam
UNIVERSALLY SPEAKING
It’s Time to Do Some House Cleaning By Rahim Islam
Blacks have lost significant ground with nearly every “positive” demographic decreasing and nearly every “negative” demographic increasing – creating alarming disparities and multiple risk factors (this is a key issue that gets no traction). Coupled with shrinking public resources, specifically in the areas of our greatest needs (i.e. health, education, social services, economics, etc.); many cities and states are broke or near broke – THIS ISN’T GETTING BETTER NO TIME SOON. With a significantly diminished public opinion against the use of public policy and resources to correct the impact of slavery (i.e. many previous “affirmative action” gains are being challenged in court today), the Black community lacks organizational capacity to challenge many of the issues facing them. There is a different fight that must be waged. Black people spend lots of time talking about accountability; mainly holding others responsible for their contributions to the deplorable conditions facing Black America. While I’m a one thousand percent supporter of Reparations, I also fundamentally believe in the concept of “Do for Self.” There are so many things that we can do NOW that we’re not doing. In my last article “We’re all Accountable to the Movement,” I triedto describe how the Movement is on-going and unless we’re prepared and organized, the gains we achieve will be lost and it will be very difficult to replicate those gains. In fact, the last real gain for the Black community in America was in the 60’s – wehaven’t secured any landmark achievements since (we’re in a 50 year drought) and some of the achievements of the civil rights legislation of the 60’s is being rolled back. Do for Self must be our Mantra! This means that we must do all we can (go out of our way) to support Black-owned business and we must stop making EXCUSES. We must overcome the “brainwashing” that someone else’s water is wetter. We must also make a conscious sacrifice and endure whatever it takes to support our Black businesses because when we do we actually create more black-owned businesses; better and competitive products and services and pricing; more jobs for our Black men and women – especially our youth; reduce the number of Black men in prison; and, ultimately reduce Black poverty and change the downward economic trajectory of our people. Do for Self does not just mean that we harness our economic assets and create opportunities for ourselves, it also means that we work to protect the image, family, and culture of our people, all of which have been significantly weakened. Many experts acknowledge the socio-economic and political challenges that exist in the Black community, but few acknowledge the“Cultural” crisis.
(continued on page 7)
RELIGION The Milwaukee Community Journal August 27, 2014 Page 4
Have Americans made God in their image? Jonathan Merritt-Religion News Service
If you play a word association game with “God,” Americans might respond with “unchanging,” “eternal,” or “forever.” But what if America’s perception of God is always changing with their whims and wishes and cultural proclivities? Matthew Paul Turner, popular blogger and author, is raising this question in his new book, Our Great Big American God: A Short History of Our Ever-Growing Deity. He argues that we have made God “like a naked paper doll, one that free individuals could and would dress up into whatever Americanized deity they liked.” Here, we discuss this concept, who he believes has shaped it, and why he predicts God will “grow” in America. RNS: What is the “American God,” and how is it uniquely American? MPT: The American God is God as perceived by Americans. Which means America’s God comes in a variety of shapes, sizes, and doctrines and his Americanized traits vary according to individuals, groups, denominations, sects, even geographies. This isn’t a new trend, rather our historical narrative suggests it is something we’ve been
Feeding The Homeless at Repairers of the Breach on Labor Day
When you think of homelessness you can't help but connect Labor Day and labor issues to the challenges of poverty and homelessness. For many, poverty and homelessness began in the workplace. Repairer’s of the Breach is hosting a Labor Day event for Milwaukee’s homeless population on Monday, September 1st from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the center -- 1335 West Vliet Street. --Open for Lunch OnlyThe Repairer’s of the Breach is Milwaukee’s only daytime homeless center open from 7 a. m. to 4 p. m., Monday through Saturday and on several major holidays, when many other programs serving the poor and homeless are closed. Through the free medical clinic, programs and services Repairer’s serves 70 to 150 homeless adults each day, averaging 92 men and women per day --as many as 2,500 to 3,000 individuals per year. Repairer’s of the Breach is in need of volunteers and sponsors. If you would like to help please contact Repairer’s of the Breach at 414.342.0582.
doing since the very beginning. Americans’ habit of affecting, reimagining, shaping, and changing God’s story started with the Puritans. And it has evolved according to the needs and events happening among America’s people. RNS: Who are some of the people who’ve most shaped the American perception of God? MPT: Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, Pheobe Palmer, Cyrus Ingerson Scofield just to name a few. For example, Whitefield, the father of evangelicalism and likely America’s first “celebrity,” was known for his savvy, almost performance-style, preaching and for also introducing Americans to God’s desire for them to be reborn. The popularity of Whitefield and his “new birth” gospel, specifically his love of liberty, became a mighty
foundation, some believe by accident, on which to build an American revolution. Palmer, though criticized by many for being a woman who preached, blazed her own trail–one that became known as America’s Holiness Movement. And as the Mother of Holiness, Palmer set the groundwork for another movement, one that began thirty-something years after her death, one that, in the early 1900s, aroused the streets of Los Angeles with Holy Spirit fire. That “fire” was Pentecostalism. RNS: What do you think makes the American God problematic? MPT: God was never meant to be a nationalized deity. The very idea that God would showcase geographical favorites or advance the kingdom of one at the expense of another or (continued on page 8)
REMEMBERING SHERMAN HILL
A group of community elders came together recently to reminice and look at old photos of themselves as children growing up in the Sherman Hill Houses on the city’s Northside. We’ll have more photos and the full story in an upcoming edition of your Community Journal. (Photos by Claybourn Benson)
Services set for Sadie Louise Wade
Alderman Willie C. Wade said today that services have been set for his mother, Sadie Louise Wade, who passed away on Friday, August 22, 2014. Viewing will begin at 10:00 a.m. with funeral services at 11 a.m. on Saturday, August 30 at Abundant Faith Church of Integrity, 7830 W. Good Hope Rd. In lieu of flowers, the Wade family asks that contributions be made to the Sadie Louise Wade Memorial Fund at Educators Credit Union, 7025 W. Appleton Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53216. Contributions to the fund will go toward the education of the late Ms. Wade’s grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
“One Night with the King” at Amazing Grace Ministry
Ambassadors For Christ will present, “One Night with the King,” Sept. 13, 6 p.m., at Amazing Grace Ministry, 3434 W. McKinley Ave. The guest speaker will be Pastor Sylvia Tiwari of Amazing Grace Church and Ministries. For more information, call Margaret Adams, 554-3888 or Dr. Carolyn A Teague, 702-9718.
The Milwaukee Community Journal August 27, 2014 Page 5
P OL L II T T II C CS S&G OV VE ER RN NM ME EN NT T PO GO
College Affordability
There’s much to be said about Wisconsin’s jobs crisis under Scott Walker. Since taking office in 2011, he’s driven our economy to dead last in job creation in the Midwest. Last year was the worst year for job creation under the current governor, and the most credible and reliable jobs number forecast this year being even worse than the year before. As Wisconsin struggles to get back to work, it’s struggling to pay off it’s student loans as well. With more than 750,000 residents still paying on a federal student loan, money that could be going into local economies around the state is going straight to banks and lenders. Crushing debt loads are a problem for individuals simply trying to carve out a comfortable life in the middle class - and they’re major strain on our state’s economy. Instead of buying big-ticket items or supporting small businesses, households dole out hundreds of dollars each month in student loan payments. Recent studies show Wisconsin residents who have already paid off their student loans are three times more likely to own a home and four times more likely to have bought a car in the last ten years. The burden of crushing student loan debt puts graduates and students in the hole before they’re even able to get established. The result is less participation in life milestones like buying cars, homes, or getting married. With consumer spending already taking a hit in Wisconsin, putting more talented and capable Wisconsinites behind the eight ball, unable to participate in our economy only hurts the longterm health of the state. Tuition only continues to climb in Wisconsin, doubling in the last twelve years alone, and the job market in Wisconsin is still struggling to recover. It’s no secret that there aren’t enough jobs in Wisconsin which pay enough to comfortably afford the average monthly student loan bill - nearly $400 a month. College aspirants and graduates alike understand the struggle of trying to pay off massive student loan debts in Scott Walker’s economy. Students in Wisconsin haven’t gotten much help from the governor in his first term. Walker has made draconian cuts to higher education over two budget cycles, significantly reducing state aid to the UW System. In fact, for the first time in state history, the state’s budget allocates more taxpayer dollars for corrections than our world-class higher education system.
Walker allies will call the governor’s moves reform, but his decisions were merely sweeping cuts that handcuffed colleges and universities, forcing them to eliminate programs and increase tuition. Instead of a real solution, Gov. Walker proposed another short-sighted two-year tuition freeze in his 2015-17 state budget if re-elected in November. A second two-year tuition freeze requires campuses, already cutting back severely due to a reduction in state aid, to scale back even more. It’s not a real plan for college affordability, its an unsustainable way to fund our state’s higher education system, and it puts the promise of the American Dream out of reach for Wisconsin residents. Scott Walker has repeatedly rejected common-sense ideas for student loan reform here in Wisconsin. Including the Higher Ed, Lower Debt bill which aimed to create a student loan refinancing authority to help current borrowers refinance their student loans. The bill also sought to allow deductions of student loan payments from state tax filings, which would result in average savings of $172 - $392 annually. Lower interest rates and more deductions mean more manageable debt loads, more money in the pockets of Wisconsinites - and more money spent in our state’s economy. Higher Ed, Lower Debt would make a college education more attainable by providing detailed information to students before they enter their lending agreements, and offering loan counseling to encourage informed decisionmaking. Scott Walker’s obstruction only holds students and graduates back. He stands in direct contrast to his rival Mary Burke, who understands more needs to be done make higher education affordable. Her plan to turn Wisconsin around, “Invest for Success”, includes directives to make higher education more affordable and create incentives to retain college grads in Wisconsin - making our state a place graduates want to come to and stay. Burke supports common-sense solutions like the Higher Ed, Lower Debt bill, essential parts to making college more affordable and giving Wisconsinites the opportunity they need to get ahead. Mary Burke gets it. She knows in order for all of Wisconsin to be successful we need more roads to the middle class, not less. Voters will reject Scott Walker and chose Mary Burke, a leader who will turn our state around and give everyone in Wisconsin a chance to succeed.
YOUTH&EDUCATION
The Milwaukee Community Journal August 27, 2014 Page 6
Community based organizations, businesses give out back-packs and back-to-school supplies
Radio station Jammin’ 98.3 held a BacktoSchool/BookBag giveaway recently at Midtown shopping center. 98.3 Radio Personality Andrea Williams hosted the event. (Photo by Yvonne Kemp)
ADVERTORIAL
Four soon-to-be students proudly display the back-packs they received from Northwest Funeral Chapel, which held a Health Fair and Book-Bag giveaway at its Northwest Family Activity and Event Center recently. The center is located on Good Hope Road (Yvonne Kemp photo)
God’s Love, Grace and Mercy Outreach Ministry held its second annual “Back-to-School, Holy Ghost, Bookbag GiveAway and Cook-Out” at its location on 3073 N. Sherman Blvd. Children received donated book-bags and school supplies. Minister James Nelson, Sr. is the founder of God’s Love, Grace and Mercy Outreach Ministry.” (Photo by Yvonne Kemp)
Abdirahman Mohamed, senior from Rufus King High School (pictured above), configures the locations of points around campus on his smart phone app in the architecture building on campus.
For more information about the PUPS program and Upward Bound Math & Science, go to the website at http://www4.uwm.edu/trio/ubms / or call 414-229-4434.
High school students get a look at urban planning, Geographic Information Systems
It’s a tool that can be used to track bat populations or help police pinpoint drug houses. And a group of local high school students spent part of their summer learning the many ways GIS (Geographic Information Systems) can be used in future careers. The students were part of a month-long PUPs (Pre-Urban Planners Preparing for Urban Problems) program, based in the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s School of Architecture and Urban Planning. The program is offered every summer. The program, now in its 12th year, gives Milwaukee high school students an opportunity to learn about careers in urban planning by getting directly involved in studying the concepts and doing neighborhood problem-solving activities. “It’s a good way to introduce young people to Urban Planning and GIS,” says William Huxhold, professor of architecture and urban planning and director of the program. “It’s a good way to expose them to careers and get them involved in their community.” This year, 14 juniors and seniors and 21 freshmen took part in two different sessions. The course was one of the career options in the Upward Bound Math and Science Summer Program. The Department of Urban Planning sponsors the program, which was originally developed using funds provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. For two hours twice a week, each group of PUPS students completed a series of activities, often using real data and information from Milwaukee agencies. In one class exercise Huxhold developed, for example, the students simulate what the Milwaukee Police Department does with GIS by locating potential drug houses. The city data on factors common to drug houses – tax delinquency, vacancy, etc. – helped the students develop their own maps pinpointing houses that might pose a problem. In the same class, they had a chance to talk to UWM alum Anne Reis, a GIS and field data specialist at the Urban Ecology Center, who showed them how the center uses GIS to track mammal and bird populations and plant species. The students also got a chance to practice with GIS software, use the SimCity games in an exercise to build their own cities as a fun way to explore the impact of development, and use specialized cell phone apps to map locations around the UWM campus. “It’s a structured exposure to the technology and skills needed in urban planning,” says Huxhold. Teaching assistants, all graduate students in geography, architecture, urban planning or the GIS certificate program, also work with the class. “I really enjoy teaching the class,” says Huxhold. “These are great students and they come up with so many good ideas.” The classes culminated with students doing a presentation about their own neighborhoods, including maps, statistics, pictures and videos. That work, says Huxhold, helps them make connections between their own neighborhoods and such concepts as zoning, transportation systems, and how the location of schools, grocery stores, police stations and other facilities impacts neighborhoods. “It also encourages them to get involved in their own neighborhoods, and lets them look at their own neighborhoods from a different perspective.” “The class teaches teamwork and shows us how we can use technology,” says Lathan Lucas, a junior at Morse Marshall High School. He’s planning a career in software engineering and saw the class as an opportunity to look at related career option.
KALEIDOSCOPE
Sista Speak... Speak Lord!
The Milwaukee Community Journal August 27, 2014 Page 7
ABODE
the MCJ lifestyle & entertainment section
WHEDA Foundation awards $355,000 in 2014 Housing Grants
Special-needs housing providers to create or improve 609 beds/units
MADISON – The Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) has announced that the WHEDA Foundation, Inc. is awarding $355,000 in housing grants to 28 specialneeds housing providers throughout the state.
ments to their existing facilities. “WHEDA has been honored to offer financial support to special-needs housing providers through our foundation since 1985,” said WHEDA Executive Director Wyman Winston. “These providers supply Wisconsin citizens in crisis safe, affordable housing. “I’m deeply gratified this year’s grant monies to 28 award recipients will help create or improve 609 beds and housing units throughout Wisconsin.” The winning 2014 grant proposals included repairing or replacing roofing, furnaces, water heaters, electric lighting, plumbing and heating systems, vinyl flooring, windows, doors, kitchens and bathrooms. Providers in Barron, Brown, Burnett, Dane, Dunn, Eau Claire, Fond du Lac, Kenosha, La Crosse, Menominee, Milwaukee, Outagamie, Polk, Racine, Rock, Sawyer, Shawano, St. Croix, Washington, Waukesha, and Winnebago counties received awards ranging from $3,650 to $25,000. WHEDA received 56 applications through the housing grant competition this year totaling $1,191,823 in funding requests, an indication of the high demand in Wisconsin. “The grants are extremely beneficial because significant improvements are made to affordable housing for the neediest of the needy.
“Valued construction jobs are created as grant recipients hire contractors. The contractors then complete renovations and upgrades to recipients’ properties,” said Winston. Four award recipients are located in the Transform Milwaukee area. The recipients and their award allocations are: Infallible Helping Hands ($25,000), AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin ($5,286), Sojourner Family Peace Center ($6,100), and Community Advocates ($5,285). Governor Walker and WHEDA first launched Transform Milwaukee on April 30, 2012. The initiative focuses on restoring economic vitality to the industrial corridor, adjacent neighborhoods, and small business development connecting Milwaukee’s 30th Street Industrial Corridor, the Menomonee Valley, Riverworks, the Port of Milwaukee, and the Aerotropolis. The annual Housing Grant competition is funded entirely by WHEDA reserves using no state tax dollars. Grants are awarded through WHEDA’s Persons-in-Crisis Housing Program Fund to nonprofit agencies, local governments, and tribal authorities in Wisconsin whose mission includes meeting the housing needs of low-income or disadvantaged populations including homeless persons, runaways, alcohol or drug dependent persons, persons in need of protective services, domestic abuse victims, persons with developmental disabilities, low-income or frail elderly persons, persons with chronic mental illness, persons with physical disabilities, persons living with HIV disease, and individuals or families who do not have access to traditional or permanent housing. Since 1985, the WHEDA Foundation has issued 1,002 awards totaling $21,968,000 to housing providers across the state. Established by WHEDA in 1983, the foundation is responsible for receiving and administering housing grant funds on behalf of WHEDA. Grant awards are distributed in two categories: Emergency/Transitional Housing and Permanent Housing. Emergency/Transitional Housing facilities are defined as housing serving households who will reside in the facility for up to 24 months. Permanent Housing facilities are defined as housing serving households who will reside in the facility for 24 or more months.
It’s Time to Do Some House Cleaning
These grants, awarded during WHEDA’s annual Housing Grant Program competition, help housing providers build new facilities or make improve-
(continued from page 3) A community can be likened to the human body with its many systems (i.e. Skeletal, Muscular, Immune, Circulatory, Nervous, Digestive, Respiratory, Sensory, etc.). All of these systems complement each other and have specific roles to ensure that the body is working optimally. If one of these systems starts to fail, it will impact the workings of the other systems, which could ultimately threaten the human life. Within the community, we have multiple systems that work the same way (i.e. Education, Economics, Housing, Business, Cultural, Political, Religious, Family, etc.). I liken the Immune system in the body to the Cultural system within our community. The immune system (the ultimate defense mechanism) is a system of biological structures and processes within the body that protects against disease. To function properly, an immune system must detect a wide variety of viruses or other agents that have the capacity to adapt and evolve to avoid detection by the immune system. When this system breaks down the body is vulnerable to disease, which could ultimately result in death.. The Black community’s immune system (Black Culture) is broken and we have allowed disease in that threatens our existence. Are we really what we are portrayed to be? Who speaks for the Black community? How does the media portray Black people? What do Black people think of themselves? When we can answer these and other questions, we can attest to the fact that we have some housecleaning to do. Let’s consider just generational failures, male/female relationships, and self-hate. Generational Failures – Too many of our children are being born in unstable environments with nearly 2/3rds living at or near poverty levels. Many of our children are so far removed from our history and the tremendous accomplishments made by our people that they just don’t believe in themselves. Structural poverty will produce a certain mindset and unfortunately, there aren’t enough models to balance the tremendous negativity that our children see from the womb. Many experts talk about how our children “hate” us which is exhibited in so many destructive behaviors (i.e. dress, music, tattoos, language, expectations, incarceration, sexual, etc.). One great pastor told me “our children can’t hear us because they’re too busy looking at what we’re doing.” If we look at the core period of group success in America (1950 – 1970) coupled with Black flight (our most successful families have moved out of the urban core leaving these communities very poor) there have been 4-5 generations that have seen our culture dissolve to the level where abnormal behavior has become normal to too
many of our young people. The good news is that if we act now and with purpose, we can steer our children in the right direction in spite of the home and community that they live in. Male/Female Relationship – Statistically the demise of the Black family can be seen in the intentional schism between the Black man and Black woman. This is very complicated discussion and controversial because many of us today don’t understand the connection between this issue with the legacy of slavery where many of the habits, attitudes, and values about each other were created. Fundamentally, Black women don’t trust or believe in Black leadership (manhood). By the way, the Black woman is not alone, no one believes in the concept of Black leadership – it’s an oxymoron. This idea is further supported now and historically by Black men unable to provide for and protect their women, families, and communities. There is so much evidence that supports this and it also can be seen whenever we speak about the Black woman; we refer to her as “strong.” Black woman have unfairly been placed in a role that doesn’t allow them to fulfill their God-given purpose (mothers of civilization). There is nothing wrong with being strong and our Black woman are, but they should also be viewed as loving, caring, warm, compassionate, and soothing to their mates and families. In many cases the word strong replaces these adjectives and in a very sneaky way justifies the bestiality of Black people (our people are without feeling) and because of the make-up of many of our Black families (little or no male role models), the Black woman has had to be everything (mother and father). Women who grow up in these environments are unable and sometimes unwilling to follow the leadership of a Black man. There is a general mindset that many of our young girls are seeing and have adopted: “I don’t need any man.” There is a tremendous level of hostility between the Black man and woman that has much to do with our history in this country. Black men have been further weakened by a mindset of sperm donating and “pimping.” Because of the structural challenges which prevent Black men from assuming the leadership of his family and community, he has morphed into becoming a full-time dependent. Those structural challenges that threaten the Black man from taking his rightful position as the leader are many, but let me highlight a few: • Incarceration of Black Men – Composing approximately 7-8% percent of the American population, Black men represent more than 50% of America’s prison population. This type of disparity is statistically challenging and (continued from page 10)
PURPOSE! SPECIAL AGENT
Time is something we cannot get back. I rally others to cherish time. Pull the plan together. I correlate the data to make a thing happen. Deadlines, deadlines and more deadlines!!! I am the project manager that keeps everyone on course. Memos, emails and text message reminders. I am the virtual memory data bank…The human ready reference. Sonya Bowman If you need to vent, then never hesitate to call on me. I aspire to lift up those I love by simply listening. I give to those when they least suspect it. I strive to feed the poor, visit the shut in and heal with my words and my time. When you need faith to continue to believe in the small miracles of everyday life, I am your muse. I was designed by God to be that special agent. The purpose of a special agent is to do all of these things I have mentioned and more. I am that special agent…”How may I help you?” Sonya Marie Bowman “It Is What It Is”
GIFTS
There are times we receive material and or monetary Gifts for different occasions. Some Gifts make us smile and some we may say… "It was the thought that counts." We all received our first Gift when born. We may not realize it at birth but all of us have a Purpose. We all have God Given Gifts of talent. When we follow God's lead, we come to know how to use our God Given Gifts to help others and define our Purpose in this Life. Tara R. Pulley Do you Know your God Given Gifts of talent?????? Do you Know your Purpose?????? “Always Keeping It Real” Tara R Pulley
Intentional Actions
Follow your dreams and the money will come. Change your perspective and doors will open. Speak life into your situation and watch it transform. Know that nothing is unattainable and your vision will come to pass. Encourage others and you will also be inspired. Live in the conscious so it will be hard to forget. Share your testimony as a reminder of His power. Zelda Corona Zelda Corona Vision Represents Faith!
The Milwaukee Community Journal August 27, 2014 Page 8
Forum focuses on the State of the Black Child
Black Children Development Institute-Milwaukee held a forum focusing on the organization’s national report, “The State of the Black Child: Being Black is Not a Risk Factor.” Held at Manpower Headquarters last week, the forum featured local experts and community leaders and addressed such topics as good health, strong families and positive early learning for children in Milwaukee. Pictured above are BCDI-Milwaukee board and forum committee members (left to right): Shaun Robey, Carrie Holden, Jeri Rose, Wanda Montgomery, Jermaine Reed, Ashley Hines, Dondieneita Fleary-Simmons, Dawn Sheldon Williams, Tammy Saffold. (Photo by Yvonne Kemp)
Have Americans made God in their image?
(continued from page 4) several others goes against many of Jesus’s basic teachings. Moreover, our relationship with God has caused a large majority of America’s Christians to posses an elitist attitude or worldview, at times even imperialistic. Rather than humility, mercy, and redemption, God seems to have made us controlling, know-it-alls, materialistic, and far too certain of what God thinks about political, social, and spiritual issues. Throughout our history we’ve branded God into a deity that works for us, one that mixes well with American values, one that agrees with our wars, and one who not only adheres to our way of life, in many cases, our way of life is God’s ideal, which we often suggest is one of the reasons he blesses us with prosperity. The biggest issue perhaps is that many of us are so comfortable with our American God, so certain of his ways, that to believe that we might be wrong is impossible. RNS: I quoted you in an article I wrote recently on the Christian music industry’s shifting views on sexuality. Do you think American evangelicals have done a poor job articulating their position in the past? MPT: No, not at all. Evangelicals have articulated quite well exactly what they think about homosexuality. We’ve preached it, put it on billboards, theologized it. Evangelicalism’s rage against homosexuality is probably one of their more successful campaigns. I doubt you could find too many Americans who couldn’t recite word for word the slogans that Christians have boasted toward the LGBTQ communities. For fifty or more years, much of America’s Church has
gone to great lengths to push an entire group of people out of the church, out of God’s story. We’ve communicated little more than “You do not belong.” RNS: Do you think American Christians are homophobic or hateful? MPT: Not as a rule, no. None of us are born homophobic, though many have likely met a few people who make us question that. But I don’t believe that it should be assumed that Christians are homophobic or hateful, not until those things are experienced. That said, there is seemingly something about the homosexual topic that makes many Jesus-loving people turn into angry, mean, insensitive people incapable of treating those with whom they disagree with respect and kindness. RNS: You predict that God will “grow” in America. Explain. MPT: I predict that God will grow because God is always growing here in the United States. We’re constantly adding new ideas, new connecting points, new theories, new practices, and new product lines to the God equation. These ideas and products don’t necessarily become universally accepted among all of America’s Christians, but they do find a following and add to the story of God, often fattening up Americans’s perceptions about the divine. And because of the Internet and social media, God is growing faster than ever before. We not only hear about these new and sometimes strange ideas that people have about God, but if we like them, we can actually connect with and find a community of people who like and believe them, too. So I suspect this trend will continue.
The Milwaukee Community Journal August 27, 2014 Page 9
It’s Time to Do Some House Cleaning
The Milwaukee Community Journal August 27, 2014 Page 10
(continued from page 7) nearly impossible to believe; but it is true. What is also nearly impossible to measure is the ramifications of these statistics: more broken families (many of the men still have children); more children living in dysfunctional families and living in poverty; more men in the family courts that foster even greater hostilities between the man and woman; fewer role models for what a “real” man looks like and how he interacts with a woman; increasing destructive attitudes and behaviors on the role of the man which is being emulated more and more by our young boys. Pimping (getting something for nothing) undermines the responsibility of the man to take his rightful position as the provider and leader and now we have a disease that has infiltrated our culture which is fed structurally by massive incarceration. • Academic Achievement of Black Men – Given the high school graduation rate amongst black males (25%) and black females (75%) and enrollment and completion of higher education, over the next 20-25 years, we will have more and more Black woman able to compete in the
labor market than Black men. This will further the divide in the traditional male /female relationships. Many Black women have to consider a spouse that she is not only more educated than, but she also earns more money than. Sometimes she also is the sole breadwinner because of the education achievement and possible incarceration background, the Black man is unable to compete. These issues and more threaten the stability of the Black family because they threaten the Black man’s ability to be in a leadership position. • Violence, Death, and Stress – While I don’t have the actual numbers, last time that I checked, there were over 12,000 murders that take place in America annually with more that 65% being Black men killing black men (Blacks are only 14% of the population). Homicides are the leading cause of death for black males ages 10 – 24. This is absolutely devastating to the Black culture. Without the remarkable trauma care hospitals that we have America, this number would be much worse. A recent CDC reported stated that for every gunshot homicide, there are roughly six non-fatal shootings. While not measured, this impact is equally catastrophic to the Black community and specifically the Black man. With all of this type of violence and no measurable response, it is implied that a Black man’s life is not worth much especially compared to a White man (if this was reversed, I don’t think you would see this type of apathy). In addition to the above alarming issues, Black men have been documented with the highest level of stress produced by a multitude of issues: death of family member or close friend; homelessness or the new homelessness (moving from house to house); unemployment or underemployment (finding a job and/or being fired or laid off); and involvement with crime or some type of legal matter (i.e. child support, traffic court, probation, parole, etc.). Self-Hate – There is no bigger disease that threatens the Black community and ultimately impacts our Culture and our ability to succeed, without truly understanding the ramifications of self-hate perpetuated by the media. “The media's the most powerful entity on earth. They
have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that's power. Because they control the minds of the masses.” Malcom X. I contend that the media sharply plays against our differences and shapes what we think about ourselves (inferior) and others. While I try to address the issue and legacy of slavery, I do it very cautiously – there is a certain hesitancy about dwelling on past because it brings up old hurts and opens up old wounds. However, the issue of self-hate and all of its manifestations can’t be viewed in the context of today. I would be negligent in the acknowledgement of both the institution of slavery and the role that the media has and still plays. The chattel slavery of African in America for over 300 years serves as one of the saddest commentaries on man’s inhumanity to man. The history of this period is so brutal and morbid that they will arouse hostilities at thought that these things occurred. As cruel and painful as chattel slavery was, it was exceeded by the capturing of a peoples mind by imprisoning the motivation, perception, aspiration and identity in a web of anti-self-images, language, art, etc. Just let me display just a few of the ideas and thoughts that have been associated by our existence in America: • Chattel Captivation (1500 – 1860) – Blacks are subhuman beasts, uncivilized and whites are superior beings and God and the Church supports this position; • Civil War/Reconstruction (1865-1900) – Blacks are inferior to whites and they will seek revenge rape our white women and kill us and they really don’t want anything better (lazy, illiterate); • Jim Crow/KKK Period and Civil Rights (1900 – 1970) – Blacks are angry, dangerous, and unemployable and addicted to handouts and welfare. Black power will result in a race war and whites own their position through hard work, discipline, high morals, and family values; and • Post-Civil Rights (1970 – Present) – Blacks are responsible for the current conditions, bring down property values and are prone to drugs, violence and crime, CREDIT RISK; they need to be incarcerated. We’ve heard of these thoughts and many of us have be-
lieved them; how do we not? How is it that when you describe anything bad it usually has the word “black” in it (there are nearly 200 negative black connotations used on a daily basis). In addition, we go undiagnosed for the Post Traumatic Stress of slavery which significantly molded our abilities to feed into the brainwashing that allows us to suffer from hating ourselves (this is another form of an illness). If we consider our current state and nearly 500 hundred years of Indoctrination of White Supremacy and Black Inferiority, there is no word that captures most, if not all of this, than the word Nigger. If we are to begin this process of change, we must clean our own house and abolish the use of this word. In part two, I will continue the discourse about selfhate and the role of the media.
“Black men have been documented with the highest level of stress produced by a multitude of issues: death of family member or close friend; homelessness or the new homelessness (moving from house to house); unemployment or underemployment (finding a job and/or being fired or laid off); and involvement with crime or some type of legal matter (i.e. child support, traffic court, probation, parole, etc.).”
n d
Why the Black man and community has not progressed in 40 years
c(continued from page 3)
ship to build their communities, mobilize for power and control resources. Nationalism allows respective cultural groupings in multicultural pluralistic America to function as nations within a nation culturally, economically, politically, spiritually, educationally, historically, and within their own Higher Order prescribed moral standards. This is an example of Dual Cultural Mastery where the cultural membership first loves, protects, master, and perpetuates their unique “Way” and continuously cultivates in their membership, and particularly in their children, their unique (Black/African in our case) talents, skills, gifts, wisdom and genius. The young will be raised with a high, positive and healthy sense of self-love, positive self-esteem, self-identity and group self-ideals. This will result in a strong, clean, and loving community void of all the violence and mayhem that we currently witness today in our central cities. It should be added that within the time frame of this writing, during the segregated period of “Old School” right before our era of “Black Regression” in the 70’s, this was the kind of Black community that we then enjoyed. The second stage of Dual Cultural Mastery that is taught in the home, in the community and reinforced in each and every community based institution is mastery of the broader mainstream multicultural pluralistic society into which the respective ethno-cultural membership must work, co-exist, participate and, by choice, live. The membership – particularly the young – are taught in the home, by the community and in the community based institutions proper mannerism and social etiquette when interacting with other people. Qualities of humane interaction, civil cooperation, work ethic competence and competitive skill sets are all taught in the family and within the community of origin prior to the young venturing out into the world among other groups. It is the responsibility of the home to ensure that the young are properly prepared to know how to “Act” and properly present themselves in public. All groups within their nationalistic vein exercise the incorporation of what Dr. Francis Cress Welsing in Hidden Colors 1 terms a “Cultural Grid” or what is commonly known as a “Cultural Immune System” (CIS). A group’s CIS protects them and allows them to daily practice, celebrate, love, retain, cultivate, maintain and perpetuate their unique Ethnic Potency – their exemplar notion of self-esteem, self-identity, ethnic identity and self-world as reflected amongst themselves with dignity and
The Milwaukee Community Journal August 27, 2014 Page 11
self-respect within a multicultural pluralistic environ. In this regard within American society - within their own communities - Jews remain Jews, Chinese remain Chinese, East Indians remain East Indians, Afghans remain Afghans, Hispanics remain Hispanics and Hmong’s remain Hmong to mention a few. And yet all of these groups, because they have mastered Dual Cultural Mastery, are superbly prepared to function outside of their community within the broader mainstream American societal fabric with dignity and respect without losing their identity. Now, Black people even during our enslavement into Reconstruction, the Jim Crow era, particularly during the period of Black “Old School” and well into the Black Power 60’s had forms of an intact Cultural Immune System. In fact, no matter what White folks did, who they were or how they acted, we were going to hold on to who we were and keep the way of life (them and us) separate and distinct. Civil rights and integration as we practiced this agenda, literally destroyed and compromised our Cultural Immune System over this 40-plus year period from the 1970’s into the present. Civil rights leadership and their followers saw “doing for self” and “love of self” and “building for self” – anything “nationalistic” as described in the words of Dr. Amos Wilson in “Blueprint for Black Power” as a form of, “self-segregation; as indicative of separatism, anti-integration, and anti-the struggle for racial equality.” Black leadership only looked at the removal of the symbols of Jim Crowism thereby allowing Blacks access to segments of White society as the “winnable” sign of equality, not understanding at all three key factors: 1) The true nature of racism; 2) The Nature not just of White men, but of men in general - nobody ever gives up who they are for someone else, and 3) The Multicultural pluralistic nature of American society and the responsibility of each cultural grouping therein to develop, cultivate, and advance their own. Once, through integration, our Black Cultural Grid broke down; once we allowed and actively participated in the compromise and destruction of our own Cultural Immune System in the effort to negate any distinguishable identities between the races and be “accepted” by White to become “like them” and a reflection and extension of them, of their system, their values and their way of life, we were well on the 40-year road to Black regression, community decline and social decay citing again the period from the mid-1970’s to present day 2014 given the examples as above presented because all of the “Old Ways” broke down and became non-existent. Wilson writes in “Understanding Black Adolescent Male Violence,” that when Black people abandoned our Cultural Immune System within our own households, within our own communities and especially within our own community based institutions, class distinctions notwithstanding, we automatically and predictably allowed White racist projections and Euro-Supremist attitudes and imagery into our world and
into our psyche as there was no longer any Black/African cultural protection or buffer to keep it out. All the Black “Old School” values, collectively speaking, of honesty, group loyalty, humility, pride, family orientation, self-worth, high self-esteem, a sense of connectedness to each Black other, a collective duty to cultivate and promote the coming generation, a belief in equal rights without the loss of dignity, strong group desire to succeed, the parents assumed total responsibility for the raising of children, the community, the school, the church, and the community based institutions supported the values and principles of the home by 1987 were gone. So here we are in 2014 wondering just what happened to our people. As documented and shared in Part I of this series, the Black man has literally dropped from being the moral authority complete with civilizing supremacy and intellectual mastery on the planet to a collective African American population membership seeking only to be imitative of, equal to, the same as, accepted by and included in the agenda of another man, an outcome which we strangely call, “freedom”.
A critical point for us to keep in mind, as cited in Part I and herein repeated, is that at no time in the history of Black people on these North American shores – even to include enslavement
– has the Black man ever regressed or “back stepped” to the point at which he finds himself today. We must first as documented in Part I rescue, reclaim, reinterpret, reconstruct, resurrect and restore for ourselves and for our children our rightful place on the world stage of time and achievement. We must rebuild a strong sense of community and communal Black/African nationalism incorporating also a return to “Old School” practice and values. We must begin to strengthen our Cultural Immune Systems, our Cultural Grid in our homes, in our schools and in our community based institutions to protect us from the predictable forces of racism and White Supremacy. And we definitely need to return to the “Old School” practice of Dual Cultural Mastery such that we can properly train and prepare our children and our Black adult membership to succeed and compete with career mobility, dignity and respect among other people within the corridors of the larger societal and global arenas. But most importantly, there is no wheel to build anew. Everything that we need is already in our history. The models are there for us to duplicate and reinstitute in our homes, communities and in our own institutions. We need to cease being less than our true African potential, cease being dependent upon others and cease being colonized by and allowing our children to mentally operate exclusively under and within the mindset of other people.
We need to return to our homes and within our own institutions our innate and uniquely inherited African gifts where we can with dignity present to ourselves, to our children and to mankind – again – a people of moral authority, community excellence and intellectual mastery.
The Milwaukee Community Journal August 27, 2014 Page 12