The MLK Luncheon with Dr. Michael Eric Dyson was by far the best MLK event I have ever attended in Peoria. I'm sure some folks were none to happy that Dr. Dyson spent the first 15 minutes of his speech backing up the work of his "friend", Tavis Smiley and essentially spanking the people who "demonized him for doing exactly what Martin would do." He went on to say that to demonize Tavis puts him in the company of great men, including Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr., who would also speak truth to power, be it black or white.
- Dr. Dyson agreed with Tavis' position about the lack of attention to the needs of those in poverty and shamed anybody who would want to silence the issue when it is so evident in our country and our community (as expounded upon by Gary Moore when introducing Dr. Dyson). He went on to say that if Dr. King were alive, he too would criticize this Administration for the lack of attention to the working poor and unemployed. Dr Dyson also made it clear that he has a great deal of love and respect for the President and would, no doubt vote for him again.
- Out of 19,000 Peorians who live below the poverty line, 11,000 are blacks (38% of the city's black population), and nearly 1,500 are Latinos (about 25%).
- There are more blacks under correctional control today -- in prison or jail, on probation or parole -- than were enslaved in 1850, a decade before the Civil War began.
- As of 2004, more African American men were disenfranchised (due to felon disenfranchisement laws) than in 1870, the year the Fifteenth Amendment was ratified prohibiting laws that explicitly deny the right to vote on the basis of race.
- Statistics compiled by Charles Blow and author Michelle Alexander (author of The New Jim Crow).
27 Speak on it...:
I agree that truth must be spoken to power--no matter what color the "power" is. However, I think Obama has done much to address the issue of poverty, keeping in mind the balance of power that keeps a President from having anything close to the kind of power (thankfully) that people might be expecting of Obama. Obama can't do much without the approval of Congress.
During his first term, I think he truly put forth a valiant effort to bring about health care reform--and the Republicans are working as hard as possible to get that effort repealed. Getting health care for all--especially the working poor--is a great stride ahead in helping those who cannot afford viable health care.
I think he should be given considerable credit for getting this far with the health care problem in this country. I don't know if his plan will work--but, at least, it seems to me to be a step in the right direction. Without health care, the poor don't have a fighting chance to make it.
Congratulations to Dana Davis--another of Manual's success stories: When the leadership award was announced at the 28th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Service on Monday at Zion Baptist Church, the man being honored was not there.
He was in Tennessee, where the Memphis Grizzlies were beating the Chicago Bulls in a National Basketball Association game.
Dana Davis, better known as "Double-D," is the vice president of basketball operations and team programs for the Grizzlies.
Double D owns a number of properties in the East Bluff and should make out like a bandit when the hospital starts buying properties.
"criticize this Administration for the lack of attention to the working poor and unemployed . ."
What exactly should this administration do to fix the problem?
Fix the problem? Let's define the problem. Starting with the quote of "lack of attention", Obama spent the majority of 2011 focusing on the deficit - a long run problem made worse by the current short run travesty of unemployment (and the debt limit became necessary because Obama caved on extending the Bush era tax cuts without a requisite increase in the debt limit).
And while it takes Congress to accomplish true changes (good luck with that right now) the President could recess appoint a new head of FHFA and begin a massive mortgage modification program.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/mass-refinancing-the-biggest-thing-obama-can-do-without-congress/2011/08/25/gIQA8RG1nP_blog.html
No, Obama has raised the debt significantly and is still asking for another 1.3 trillion. I am sorry, what did you do with the trillion you just got. There has not been a focus on spending cuts only the expansion of government, which by the way is paid by fewer and fewer taxpayers.
But what should Obama have done for the "working poor" and "unemployed"? He did fight to extend unemployment benefits.
Obama didn't raise the debt ceiling, Congress did. If Obama could have done it himself, we wouldn't have had the circus last August. And we spent it on all the things we previously agreed to do, like Medicare, social security and defense.
Basic economics- governments should run deficits in down times and surpluses in good times ( except our government failed us during the Bush years).
Frustrated, forgive the quotation, but "it's the economy, $&@?!". And as you've said before, go big or go home.
Obama's style is start with a proposal most likely to get accepted - but that doesn't work with an unreasonable counterparty whose only goal is that Obama can't be re-elected.
So... At least propose Another round of stimulus, a focus on infrastructure such as an infrastructure bank, a monetary policy that is less concerned with inflation and more concerned with unemployment....
There probably is not much more Obama could do other the extend unemployment benefits. As a result, the Repubs now take pleasure in calling him the food stamp president.
There has been a concerted effort by Congress and business leaders to slow job growth in an effort to make this Administration look a certan way. As a result, they now want to say that certain people don't want to work, they want welfare. Unfortunately for a large segment of the country, if not for welfare they would be going hungry while Repubs play their political games.
The goal has been to make the black guy appear incompetent, even at the expense of the people. Congress has enjoyed slowing growth, in hopes of making Obama a one term President.
The U of Chicago Magazine Jan./Feb. arrived on my doorstep and this issue is dedicated to the subject of education - U of Chicago has a long history of research in this area.
One article reports the research of James Heckman, Chicago economist and Nobel laureate. He researched the gap between hourly wages of white males vs. black. After controlling for "skills", the wage gap shrank from 25 percent to 6 percent.
Even if the economy was in better shape, even if Obama had done all Jon suggested, even if the Republicans had not blocked so many measures . . . many poor, particularly unemployed black men, would not be poised to take advantage of increased job opportunities because they lack any type of job skills.
No one can argue that education is a road out of poverty. However, that road can be blocked in many ways--not always the fault of the poor themselves. I certainly agree that the Republicans are seeing to it that there is no economic progress or job creation under Obama--the Republican hopefuls for President openly admit that their only goal is to beat Obama.
I am an evangelical Christian, but it amuses me greatly that the religious right of the Republican party must choose between a Morman and a Roman Catholic to be President. Remember it was the religious right who opposed Kennedy's election because he was Catholic and to choose a Morman would ordinarily be unthinkable for the religious right. That's how much they want to beat Obama--enough so that they are willing to give up what they (up until now) would have considered religious reasons for not backing a particular candidate.
Oh come on Emerge. What is the high school drop out rate for black males? You can just take a snap shot of District 150 and see that poor youth struggle in school.
Heckman's research defined "skills" as not only education but also conscientiousness, perseverance, and sociability - traits he identifies as emerging before children begin school.
Obama could wave a magic wand tomorrow and create a bucket load of jobs and many poor and unemployed would still be on the outside looking in because they do not possess the "skills" to be employed.
My point is that government initiatives cannot be limited to simply creating more jobs. A much different approach needs to be taken in educating disadvantaged children. Monies must be invested in more early childhood education and other education and social interventions prior to a student reaching high school.
Another article in the Chicago Magazine quotes an educator from the Univ. of Chicago Charter School who states "if they're not on track by eighth grade, they're probably not going to get on track." My limited experience is that this is true, regardless of a student's social economic status or race.
" many poor, particularly unemployed black men, would not be poised to take advantage of increased job opportunities because they lack any type of job skills." A ridiculous myth that elitist enjoy believing and use to fall back on to avoid giving consideration to an entire group of people.
Frustrated as a person who has alluded to being well traveled, you should be aware that a snapshot of what you see in Peoria and/or District 150 would hardly define the abilities and/or accomplishments of black men as a whole.
Good job, I'm glad he said all that he said. One thing is for sure, no matter what the President can or can't do, the Black Boule leadership that we have in Peoria certainly can't help. They have proven themselves to be totally ineffective.
I taught at Roosvelt Jr. High, starting in 1962. Looking back, I have come to realize that Roosevelt and Trewyn were the only junior highs in Peoria for a reason--remember segregation kept most black people in the southend. Many black children were old enough to drop out of school before they had to go to Manual (which was primarily "white" before the late 1960s). I contend that black children were not encouraged to go to high school and saw no need to do so because there were no jobs for them--employment for blacks at Caterpillar did not open up until about that time. I remember the owner of Szolds asking me to find a reliable black student to work at Szolds when it was clear that he was going to have to add some blacks to his work force.
How long do you think it takes for the idea of education to take hold among a group of people who were given no reason to believe that education would help them? I contend that it takes more than the length of my career, which to me seems like a very short period of time.
This is a tightrope to walk because I do not want to give any black child an excuse for not succeeding--don't want them to believe they are victims of the kind of society that I saw during my early years of teaching. However, no one can deny the effects of that system--and that era has not yet been overcome. In my opinion, the drug trade and gangs, which, also, came into being during that era in Peoria has had its effects, also--and from where did the demands for drugs come?
Emerge - you can go to any urban environment in the U.S. and see the same struggle.
When I have travel to vibrant places like Chicago, Miami, New York, Boston what I always notice is that there are MANY Black and Latino individuals that appear to be plugged into society and enjoying the good life. Educated minorities are highly sought after by employers and have the pick up where to live and work and that FOR SURE is not Peoria. :)
:)
How unfortunate that so many continue to buy into the thinking that the only employable/intelligent black people in Peoria must be from some place else.
Therein lies the problem and explains why certain people sit on the top of the pyramid of problems that plague this community. This would be inclusive of the people Pastor Burnett referenced in his comments.
Emerge is right; I think I've said it before that the professional blacks in Peoria aren't visible because they are busy with their careers (other than with District 150) and families--and they aren't all imports. Something (maybe their own choice) has kept them from taking leadership roles in the black community and in the city.
I think the term "black community" requires some explanation. There no longer is a well-defined black community as there was in the 1950s when all blacks, professional and otherwise, lived in one area of the city. Now there is no geographic location that holds black people together--especially those in the rising middle class (I use the term "rising" middle class a bit loosely since I'm not sure that's the best way to describe the middle class in our economic situation today).
The white community has a tendency to look at the poor areas of the city and the blacks who live there as the typical blacks in Peoria. When a white person thinks of "welfare," that's the image that too often comes to mind. However, the truth is that welfare recipients often are white.
Yes, I do hope that some of the African-Americans in a younger age bracket would begin to be the voice for their age group. It's time for the old guard (my age and older) to step aside and/or to help the younger people to let their voices be heard.
In thinking about those in the old guard that I know, I realize that their own children left Peoria. These people raised some children who have become successful in many different fields--but they aren't living in Peoria.
That said, didn't I see the name "Duren" recently as one of the black pastors who spoke at the MLK event--his parents were certainly instrumental as voices of the black community--his father was a school board member.
"How unfortunate that so many continue to buy into the thinking that the only employable/intelligent black people in Peoria must be from some place else."
I said nothing like that in my previous post, really I alluded to just the opposite.
My apologies for the misinterpretation. Thanks for the clarification.
I'm a little sensitive, because there is a stigma if you are from Peoria and educated in District 150, which has been in existence for a long time now.
I just wish people would realize that there are a lot of decent, qualified people in this town who are being pre-judged because of what we hear and see in the news.
Emerge - My impression is that many talented people leave the area because of limited employment opportunities (regardless of skill set) and because of limited school choice (many I chat with find the District, Dunlap, & the parochial schools all come up short for different reasons).
Always great to exchange ideas with you and be exposed to different points of view.
Watch this blogger commentary on Obama's presidency: http://newsone.com/nation/news-one-staff/blogger-i-am-not-disappointed-in-obama/
If you can't get to the link, Google, "I am not disappointed in Obama"
District Watch will meet Sunday, January 22, at 6 p.m. at Monical's on Lake and Knoxville. Anyone interested in District 150 is welcome--or even if you aren't interested. :)
The CAPtions broadcast featuring Dr. Dyson's speech at the MLK Luncheon is now available online. Here are the links;
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTBbeIDWhBc
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RJryYEkg4s
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imZj6NwAwgg
Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNpB4pUiAw4
Part 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBBJKQ7jfww
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