July 24, 2012

U. S. Black Chamber Makes ‘Game Changer’ Move for Black Economy

By Hazel Trice Edney

National Bankers Association President Michael Grant; U.S. Black Chamber Inc. President Ron Busby and Industrial Bank President/CEO B. Doyle Mitchell Jr. celebrate the deposit that they believe will be the catalyst for a new Black economic movement.

WASHINGTON (TriceEdneyWire.com) - Ron Busby appeared reflective as he sat at the mahogany board room table at Industrial Bank, a Black-owned establishment, based in North West Washington, D.C. Busby, the president/CEO of the U. S. Black Chamber Inc. (USBC) then summed up his thoughts in one sentence:

“This is a game changer,” he declared.

Amidst an economic downturn that has pulverized segments of the Black community with record unemployment and loss of wealth across the nation, Busby had just opened a U. S. Black Chamber account with Industrial. The deposit was a calculated move to start a new relationship that he hopes will spread into a national movement that will strengthen Black financial institutions and ultimately uplift the community at large.

“I believe that Industrial has a success story that is unequaled,” he continued in the interview. “And if you really look at the statistics in reference to not only Industrial, but other minority and Black-owned banks, you’ll see that they are in our communities; they lend money to our businesses as well as our local communities. And so, for the average reader across the country that’s going to pick this up, I think it is game changing because now you have a national organization that’s not just talking about a solution but is actually actively participating in the solution.”

The USBC deposit was in fact another significant stride in the history of the 75-year-old Industrial. The bank started with six employees and $192,000 in assets in 1934 and now has 150 employees and more than $333 million in assets. With Industrial Bank pioneers Jesse H. Mitchell, founder, and B. Doyle Mitchell Sr., president, adorning the board room wall in portraits; Busby underscored the significance of the new business partnership.

“This will be our primary bank,” Busby said. “We will probably do about a half million dollars of business a year that will run through this particular bank.”

The 4-year-old Black Chamber, Inc. boasts about 108 chambers in 22 states and 240,000 members - mostly Black-owned businesses. The ultimate strategy, if it works as outlined by Industrial President/CEO B. Doyle Mitchell Jr., would benefit the community.

“The more deposits we have, the more we’re able to lend out,” Mitchell says. “In order to grow, you’ve got to have deposits.”

Mitchell, also chairman of the National Bankers Association (NBA), envisions a spread of the movement. “I do see it as a partnership, but I also see it as an encouragement to other Black national organizations and Black companies to do more business with each other because I think we trail everybody in trying to do business with each other and keeping money in our own communities. I think with the U. S. Black Chamber being the top notch organization that they are, I think it’s a big leadership step for them and for Ron to take that initiative.”

Mitchell and Busby both serve on the Small Business Administration’s Council on Underserved Communities, where they first began this conversation. They have concluded that – in addition to government initiatives – the African-American community must step up its activities to revitalize itself. To make that happen, Mitchell and Busby are strategizing with Michael Grant, president of NBA, which has a membership of 37 mostly Black-owned banks.

“This can be the catalyst to get other national organizations to see how important it is that we harmonize; synergize, and energize our efforts,” says Grant as he listed several major Black organizations. “At the end of the day, all of these organizations have constituencies that go all over America, all of these organizations handle money and their members handle money… You start with the leadership of these organizations and you say ‘Listen, we need to do a better job at harvesting our own wealth. Yes, we want to look to politicians to do things and yes we may ask the corporations to be more fair about their hiring and their contracting and so forth, but what are we supposed to do?'”

Grant continued, “To me, I don’t think that we should keep asking others and passively sitting back and waiting for others to deliver for us. We should be proactive and aggressive about making sure that economic opportunity exists in the Black community. So, all of us are national organizations; we’ve already got people; we’ve already got constituents, right? We’ve already got resources. So, let’s set the example.”

A “national action plan” in this regard will be announced July 27 during the USBC’s School of Chamber Management conference at Georgetown University in D.C., Busby says.

In a nutshell, the plan is described as a strategic national movement in which Black chambers – and ultimately Black businesses and Black organizations - will be encouraged to open accounts in Black banks. Among the initial cities are Phoenix, Ariz.; Austin, Texas; Atlanta, New York City, and Detroit, Busby said.

“And so we’re going into those six cities and saying, ‘Okay, here’s your local Black bank. We need to make sure that they’re successful as well. We need to move as many of our loans, our bank accounts, our savings accounts into Black-owned banks.’”

Busby points out that the strategy is actually a part of the USBC’s “solution-oriented” mission statement, which deals with supporting African-American businesses and banks based on five pillars:

• Advocacy: Fighting for legislation, programs and policies that promote small business growth.
• Access to capital: Creating avenues “by which Black businesses can gain greater access to credit, capital and other financial instruments.”
• Contracting: Helping members “gain access to business opportunities" in private and public sectors.
• Entrepreneurial training: Assisting Black business leaders in achieving “stellar performance and growth through entrepreneur and business management training.”
• Chamber development: The growth and expansion of new chambers around the nation.

The new strategy will focus mainly on three of the pillars. They are access to capital, contracting and entrepreneurial training, Busby said.

Throughout history, Black leaders have attempted various economic strategies to strengthen the Black community as whole, most of which have failed. Grant explains that the greatest hurdle to this movement will be galvanizing the masses in the same direction and convincing people to think about community rather than just about their own organizations or households.

“The civil rights movement was the last time that over time we came together and we all got some kind of agreement – if you will – on one accord about what we wanted. The civil rights movement ended up changing a lot of people’s minds and attitudes because the reward was so close in front of them,” Grant said. “If you want to change behavior, you have to use positive reinforcement so that rewards for the new behavior are strong enough.”

Economist Julianne Malveaux lauds the plan but says prospective participants must ask hard questions in order to hold the banks accountable.

“This is a very welcome move because only one in 10 Black dollars goes into Black entrepreneurs and Banks. So, whereas a dollar may turn over seven or eight times in other communities that invest in themselves the African-American community’s dollar may turn over only once; then go right out. So, the Black Chamber is modeling what Black folks supporting Black folks should be,” Malveaux said.

However, the success of the movement will be contingent upon whether Black banks are serious about spreading the wealth in Black communities.

“There are a series of questions that people who are changing accounts will have to ask. And those are questions that minority banks will have to answer. Like, for this support, what are you offering? Is this support simply rhetorical or does this mean more lending in the Black community? Does it mean more opportunity for our young people? Does it mean more employment for our young people?”

Grant concludes, “The burden is on all organizations; including the Black bankers too…It’s a two-way street. When you think about all the things our banks could do in their communities to help strengthen those communities, that burden is on us as it is on everybody else. What can we do to grow wealth in our community? All of us have a responsibility. Nobody’s exempt.”

July 23, 2012

Courageous Black Secret Service Woman Revealed Scandal

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Afro American Newspapers

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - A Black Secret Service agent is being hailed as the heroine in what is reportedly the worst scandal in the agency’s history.

Paula Reid is the 46-year-old special agent responsible for blowing the whistle on the sex scandal that turned the esteemed agency into so much fodder for the 24-hour news cycle and cable talk shows. Reid, the head of the service detail down in Latin America, discovered that at least 11 agents, including two supervisors, had brought prostitutes back to their hotel rooms in Cartagena, Colombia, just days before the president arrived for an international summit. Such action posed a significant security risk for the commander-in-chief.

Officials are praising Reid for her swift action.

“She acted decisively, appropriately,” said Maine Sen. Susan Collins, the ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee, and one of Congress’ lead investigators into this incident, on ABC’s “This Week” on April 22.

The other, New York Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney from the House Oversight Committee, added, “I talked to [Secret Service Director Mark] Sullivan last night, and he was commending her leadership, too. She really went in there and cleaned up the mess.”

In the wake of Reid’s probe, six agents have been fired, six others are being investigated and 11 military personnel are also under scrutiny. Officials are also examining whether this incident was part of a pattern.

“I recognize that the vast majority of Secret Service personnel are professional, disciplined, dedicated, courageous. But to me it defies belief that this is just an aberration,” Collins said. “There were too many people involved. If it had been one or two, then I would say it was an aberration. But it included two supervisors. That is particularly shocking and appalling.”

Reid’s leadership in this case is also shining a light on the paucity of women and minorities within the Secret Service.

“I can't help but wonder if there'd been more women as part of that detail if this ever would have happened,” Collins said Sunday on the weekly news talk show.

According to Maloney, the agency comprises only 11 percent women. “I can't help but keep asking this question, where are the women? We probably need to diversify the Secret Service and have more minorities and more women.”

July 23, 2012

Two Police Officers Fired for Death Threats Against Obama

By Jeremy M. Lazarus

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Richmond Free Press

RICHMOND, Va. (TriceEdneyWire.com) - Two White Richmond police officers have been fired  for calling for the assassination of President Obama  during his campaign visit to the city in May.

City Hall confirmed the dismissal of the two officers just before President Obama made another campaign stop in the Richmond area last week. That confirmation was followed by a separate announcement that a month-long halt to Richmond Police Department promotions had been lifted.

“The two officers are no longer in service,” Tammy  Hawley, the mayor’s press secretary, stated in an email to the Free Press.

She stated that the officers were let go after “the mayor agreed with recommendations brought forward

by Police Chief (Bryan T.) Norwood and Chief Administrative Officer Byron Marshall.” The action was taken July 6.

The officers spoke openly during roll call at the Fourth Precinct of their wish for the president to be killed on  May 5, the day the president and first lady were at the Siegel Center to launch his re-election bid. Sources have identified them as a sergeant with more  than 20 years of experience and a patrol officer with six years on the job.

One of them expressed the wish that someone blow  up the stage while the president was speaking, sources have said. At the same roll call, the other officer — while talking to a colleague assigned to the presidential detail — spoke loudly about his hopes that someone would shoot the president.

At least one of the officers also made insulting remarks about the first lady.

The Secret Service investigated after receiving complaints from shocked officers who were present, but the federal agency did not bring any charges. Threatening the president is a federal crime. The city department’s internal investigation led to the officers’ terminations.

Meanwhile, 24 police officers will be promoted next Monday, July 23, more than a month later than

expected. The ceremony had been originally scheduled for June 15, but was called off the week before the event without explanation.

The promotions include of 13 sergeants, eight lieutenants and three captains.

International AIDS Conference - July 22-27

Black People Have Pretended it Was Someone Else's Problem

By Phill Wilson, president/CEO, Black AIDS Institute

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Thousands have descended on Washington, D.C. for preparation for the 19th International AIDS Conference, which opened July 22. Leading up to the conference, on Monday, July 16th, the Food and Drug Administration approved the use of a drug called Truvada for the purposes of pre-exposure prophylaxis. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is when a person who does not have HIV uses anti-HIV medications to prevent acquisition of the virus. That means even if you are exposed to the virus, you don't get infected and therefore don’t get sick.

The FDA got this one right. PrEP will be a very useful tool in stopping HIV infections among gay and bisexual men. And for the most at-risk population on the planet, Black gay and bisexual men -- and particularly young Black gay and bisexual men -- this decision happened not a moment too soon.

But here's what I'm worried about. We know that the science shows that PrEP works for gay and bisexual men. We know that in some of our urban communities nearly half of Black men who have sex with men are already HIV positive. We know that there has been nearly a 50 percent increase among HIV cases among young Black men over the past 3 years. But we do not know if our community will embrace this new tool.

The challenges for us are: Will we get the information that will allow us to learn what PrEP is and what PrEP is not, who should be taking it and who should not, where to find it and how to use it?

Sometimes I think that if the cure for HIV was in the air, Black folks would hold our breaths.

The reason why the 19th International AIDS Conference in Washington is so important is because it is time for us to stop playing with HIV. Every step of the way, Black Americans have resisted protecting ourselves and saving our lives. In the beginning of the epidemic when we could have saved lives, Black people pretended like it was someone else's problem. When the first treatments (as crude as they were) became available, we resisted making the treatments available even for folks for whom it was appropriate. I suffered thru the horrible days and nights of AZT. AZT was a terrible drug. But I’m alive 32 years later because I stayed alive long enough for the next generation of drugs to become available.

When needle-exchange programs were proven to stop transmission of HIV without increasing IV drug use, Black Americans developed a not-in-my-backyard attitude and resisted needle-exchange programs at the expense of thousands of lives. When the new protease inhibitors became available, again we were slow to respond. Now we're being presented with a host of breakthrough biomedical interventions, yet around the country we are obsessing on issues that, while important, are not paramount.

Every racial ethnic community in America is making progress toward the end of the AIDS epidemic except Black people.

During the Holocaust when the Nazis were rounding up the Jews, people just stood by and watched it happened not realizing that people like them were being rounded up as well. For years Black people have watched everybody else dying from AIDS, not realizing that we were infected as well. In Nazi Germany people remained silent until it was too late. Will we?

The prominent Protestant pastor and outspoken critic of Adolph Hitler, Martin Niemöller, said it like this:

"First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out -- because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out -- because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out -- Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me -- and there was no one left to speak for me."

Black America take notice: Elvis (and everybody else) has left the building. We are just about the only ones still left around. And nobody else seems to give a damn. Federal dollars for HIV are down; corporate dollars to fight HIV are down; foundation dollars to fight HIV are down.

This is the last flight out. We choose to not get on board at our own peril. Black Americans have to build our own infrastructure and capacity to beat this thing. And we can't do it if we don't have the latest science information. Nobody can save us from us, but us. This is our problem. Our people. Our solution.

In this issue, a team of about 30 members of the Black AIDS Delegation, a group consisting of members of the Institute's Black Treatment Advocate Network and graduates of the African American HIV University (AAHU) will attend the conference. These activists have committed themselves to building the infrastructure and capacity required to end the epidemic in Black communities nationwide.

Here, a cross-section of BTAN fellows -- from Philly to Jackson, Miss., to Los Angeles -- share their thoughts about why attending is so important, what they hope to learn from the conference and how they intend to be different when they return home.

Again, the 19th International AIDS Conference runs from July 22 through July 27th. Get there if you can.