Young lawyers come together to form new firm Money. B3
Michigan Chronicle
Vol. 81 – No. 18 | January 10-16, 2018
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Business giant’s passing leaves a void and a rich legacy John W. Barfield, a legendary entrepreneur who founded Bartech, a leading workforce management and staffing solutions provider to Global 500 firms, passed away at his home in Ann Arbor on Jan. 2. Barfield, who had enjoyed an active lifestyle after retiring from Bartech, who saw family members daily and enjoyed good health, died of natural causes at the age of 90. He would have turned 91 on Feb. 8.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (center) at the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama to protest lack of full voting rights for African Americans. From left are civil rights activists Ralph Abernathy, James Forman, Jesse Douglas and John Lewis.
John W. Barfield With his death, Southeast Michigan and the nation have lost a brilliant ambassador for business development and wealth creation, as well as a passionate philanthropist who loved to serve those less fortunate. Barfield and wife Betty formed Share Products Co. in the 1990s as a business whose profits supported charitable giving to the homeless. The Barfields also were active supporters of nonprofits such as UNCF, Spaulding for Children, the Rotary Foundation and the Parkridge Community Center in Ypsilanti. John Barfield was known as a pioneer of corporate America’s minority supplier development programs, having formed companies that were successful contractors to the major automakers and other industrial giants. He launched John Barfield & Associates in 1977, with a staff of students who updated engineering documents at General Motors’ Willow Run facility in Ypsilanti. By 1984, Mr. Barfield expanded the company and renamed it The Bartech Group, finding success in the engineering
Freedom ain’t free
The most important lesson of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. By Keith A. Owens Senior Editor
“Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can’t ride you unless your back is bent.”
Freedom is hard work, because evil simply does not sleep.
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WHAT’S INSIDE
And then it is about taking direct action. Voters, especially black voters, took action in one of the reddest states in America when they got rid of Roy Moore last month and paved the way for Doug Jones in a victory no one could see coming. Voters in Virginia took action that same month when they elected Lt. Governor Ralph Northam over Ed Gillespie in a decisive victory that left no doubt
Come November, the midterm elections will provide Americans with a number of opportunities to send a lot of messages to Trump, hopefully of the sort that cannot be reprinted in a family newspaper. The electoral math seems to show that the most likely place for an upset victory will be in the House, but there’s a chance for the Senate as well. This may be the best, last chance that thoughtful, sane Americans have to begin reclaiming the country that is supposed to belong to all of us, not just the ones who proclaim themselves the only real Americans. Be-
By David Bullock
‘The Bodyguard’
O
n Monday, Jan. 15, many Americans will commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday. Many of those same Americans will probably criticize, even, the man responsible for the celebration.
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and sent a clear message to Trump.
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While King Day rules, John Conyers got removed
Deborah Cox stars as Rachel Marron in the musical
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This is one of my favorite quotes from Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr., because it emphasizes something that I believe we all need to be very mindful of in these times of Trump and everything else that we’re living through, namely that the work is never done. The minute you think you’ve actually arrived at the Promised Land is the minute your Promised Land pass gets revoked.
Take your pick of any number of outrageous items related to Trump and his so-called presidency and there is more than enough reason for outrage and anger. The kind of outrage and anger that makes you want to do something about it. But also keep in mind what Dr. King and so many others before him found out in the course of the struggle — that it is never about just one person or event. It is about taking several big steps back and reviewing the entire broad landscape of injustice that is stretched out before us all that reaches beyond where our eyes are willing to reach.
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We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.
cause the only real Americans are actually the ones willing to fight to the last breath and do whatever is necessary to make this country live up to its creed, as Dr. King once said. Those men referred to as the founders of this nation (I say “referred to” because the Native American population might have a few issues with that designation) may not have intended for all of us to be included when they wrote all those high-minded words, but those founders are now dead and we aim to be included in that promise. This land is our land now. Or as King said: “We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.” One of the many things that made Dr. King special, and so very effective as a spiritual and moral leader, was his ability to force America to look at itself, even as it tried to break every mirror in the house. He forced America to not only recognize the value and the rights of black people, he forced America to question its own value as a nation unable — and unwilling — to fulfill its promises to itself. He made America see that if we are not all valued as Americans, then America is at risk. What we are witnessing now is the naked display of all the evidence required to prove that not just the idea and dream of America, but the raw nuts and bolts that hold it together, are coming undone. Many are questioning whether America is going backward or whether it ever really made any progress since Dr. King demanded that we all rise to the capabilities of not just our better selves but our best selves. The truth may be that, collectively speaking, we did not continue the work as consistently as it needed to be done, making it easier for cracks to splinter the wall we thought we had fortified against the perverse monstrosity we are currently facing.
Four days after the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., John Conyers introduced a bill to establish a federal holiday to honor the slain civil rights leader. On Nov. 2, 1983, President Ronald Regan signed a bill making Martin Luther King Day a federal holiday, effective
Jan. 20, 1986. As a result of this bill, Americans now commemorate the birth and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It took Congress years to affirm the wisdom of John Con yers’ call for a national holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It took Congress days to affirm the negative allegations against John Conyers and call for his resignation. It would seem that this year the celebration of the king will not include any praise of the kingmaker. Congressman Conyers fought for a day to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Amid racial prejudice, political posturing and a constricted Democratic polity, Conyers spearheaded the movement to establish MLK Day. Conyers, who worked in the Civil Rights Movement, was elected to Congress in 1964. He was a key
champion of the Voting Rights Act and devotee to the message and person of America’s premier social justice drum major — Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Conyers has a tested civil rights legacy. He was supremely confident in the movement for racial equality and in the quality of Dr. King’s leadership. He pressed forward when others did not until he was successful. In 1970, Conyers convinced New York’s governor and New York City’s mayor to commemorate King’s birthday. In 1971, the city of St. Louis followed suit. Conyers pressed forward. The movement continued. Finally, the combination of a groundswell of local support for the celebration in other localities, a song by Stevie Wonder and a savvy political calculus won the
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