Sept. 22, 2013

Right Down the Street
By Dr. E. Faye Williams

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – Our office, the national headquarters of the National Congress of Black Women and my home are about a mile from the Washington Navy Yard.  By now everyone’s more than familiar with the national tragedy that occurred there.

Ours is a community fully engaged in growth and urban revitalization.  New buildings and businesses emerge almost daily.  High-rise office buildings and condos add to the revenue stream of our community.  The "Washington Nationals Stadium" is a regional attraction that brings baseball lovers into the area from nearly every corner of the metro area and, albeit seasonal, is the source of hundreds of jobs.  Anchored by strong community organizations that protect the vested interests of local residents, the area surrounding the Navy Yard epitomizes the good in urban growth.  The shooting tragedy at the Navy Yard is antithetical to the spirit and goals of our neighborhood.

The complexities of analyzing such a tragedy are myriad.  With complete certainty, we’ll see a renewal of the debate to modify current gun laws.  We can be just as sure to see a re-examination of the role of contracted services in the execution of government function and the manner in which contract employees are screened to qualify for employment.

Unfortunately, I’m not sure we’ll engage in a complete or thorough examination or discussion of the question of mental illness and its impact in mass shooting events.  Among discussion points, this remains one of the most important.  I say this because a common element among recent mass shootings has been attribution of some level of mental illness upon the shooters.

Immediately after the Sandy Hook Massacre, WE, as a nation, were willing to entertain a wide-ranging discussion on how to prevent a recurrence of such a horrific event.  The theme of the day was "a comprehensive solution”.  Integral to that initial conversation was the question of how to take weapons from the hands of the mentally ill.  The events of the Navy Yard reinforce the need to address that issue specifically.

Based on behavioral information that has surfaced about the current alleged shooter, more than several incidents that brought his mental stability into question were ignored.  Although I abhor his actions, I cannot lay complete blame at the feet of someone who was non compos mentis.  That said, I must question the judgment of those who discharged him, those law enforcement officials who minimized his potentially criminal acts, and the naval officials who took and ignored reports of his aberrant behavior.

I also question the judgment and concern of family and friends who would ignore or deny the clues of a fully-grown man locking up in a room for hours playing violent video games or behaving menacingly towards neighbors.  Reportedly, the alleged shooter's father justified one of his son's shooting rampages by claiming PTSD related to trauma suffered during the events of 9/11.

It is clear that along the way the ball was dropped - multiple times.  These failures almost excuse the lack of attention paid to his behavioral background by the contractor that hired him. Almost, but not quite.

In retrospect, many seem to recognize the problems that were affecting the alleged shooter.  In afterthought, folks are willing to disclose their understanding of the clues that signaled mental illness.  Now that it’s too late, numerous remedial solutions are being floated.

The larger picture of this event confirms for me that mental illness is a more pervasive problem that’s increasingly expressed with violent outcomes.  I believe we can no longer ignore, deny or excuse the acts of our associates because we don't want to cause problems for them.  There’re no easy answers, but we surely reject actions and behaviors that bring death and mayhem upon those who do not deserve it.

Sept. 19, 2013

The U.S. Military Led the Way to Ending Segregation in America
As African Americans Fought in Integrated Units During Korean War

By Lieutenant Colonel Timothy Washington

An integrated Army unit of African American, White, and Korean Soldiers in November of 1950 in Korea.  CREDIT: U.S. Department of Defense 60th Anniversary of the Korean War Commemoration Committee

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - A few weeks ago, the 50^th Anniversary of the March on Washington was commemorated in cities and towns across the United States with an emphasis on the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech and his call for an integrated nation and a tearing down of the walls of segregation. But unknown to many African Americans is that fifteen years before the March on Washington, President Harry S. Truman had signed Executive Order 9981 which directed an end to the official policy of segregation in the military.

The Presidential order did not change the reality of race relations in the military overnight, but the invasion of the Republic of Korea on June 25, 1950 by North Korean forces seeking to unify the Korean peninsula under communist rule, set the stage for our nation's first integrated fighting force. When the Korean War began, there were 100,000 African Americans in the military with most of them serving in segregated units. When the Korean War Armistice was signed in July 1953, there were over 600,000 African Americans serving their country in integrated units.

In three years of vicious fighting in Korea, African Americans repeatedly demonstrated their bravery in combat. They fought to keep the Republic of Korea free and democratic even though they were denied the ability to vote and other rights in the United States.   They fought because it was the right thing to do and it was their duty.

Jesse Brown, an Ohio State graduate, was the nation's first African American Navy fighter pilot. He ultimately became the first African American aviator to be killed in action in the War in December 1950. Ensign Brown's wingman, Lieutenant Thomas Hudner, crashed his aircraft to conduct a valiant but unsuccessful attempt to rescue Brown. Hudner did not see a downed African American pilot.   He saw a fellow American and risked his life to save him. For his heroic actions, Lieutenant Hudner received the Medal of Honor and Brown was posthumously honored with the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Daniel Chappie James flew fighter planes in WWII and Korea and was one of many Air Force pilots in the Korean War who were Tuskegee Airmen. James went on to provide inspiration to me and some of my friends as we considered a career in the military when he became the first African American Four Star General in the military. The Marine Corps began integrating early in the Korean War and African American Marines fought gallantly at the battle of Pusan, one of the first major battles of the War. The Army disbanded the 24^th Infantry Regiment (Buffalo Soldiers) and other all African American units during the War and successfully integrated its troops. Integration of the military during the Korean War changed the Armed Forces forever and set the tone for segregation to be eliminated from all aspects of American society.

When fighting ended in Korea, there were more African American military officers than ever before and expanded opportunities for minorities to be promoted. Korean War Veterans used GI benefits and the experience they gained while serving to earn college degrees, buy homes, secure jobs with corporations and the federal government, and become community leaders. Many veterans, and particularly Korean War veterans, made significant contributions in the struggle for equality and integration.

Roy Innis and James Meredith are both Korean War veterans. Innis served in the Army from 1950 to 1952 and became the leader of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). James Meredith served in the Air Force from 1951 to 1960 and was the first African American admitted to the University of Mississippi in 1962. He later led the 1966 "March Against Fear" from Memphis to Jackson, Mississippi.

Medgar Evers was a WWII Army veteran and fought in the Battle of Normandy. After the War he earned his college degree and became a civil rights activist. Evers was assassinated in 1963 and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors. Floyd McKissick was also a WWII Army veteran and served in the European Theater. After the War, he graduated from Morehouse College and later became the first African American student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Law School. In 1966, McKissick became the leader of CORE.

Two African American members of the U.S. House of Representatives, John Conyers and Charles Rangel, are Korean War veterans. Conyers has been a Congressman for almost 50 years representing a district in Detroit and serves on the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties. Congressman Rangel, a native New Yorker, is known as a "Champion for Justice". He received a Purple Heart and Bronze Star for his actions at the Battle of Kunu-Ri while fighting in Korea and he continues to fight for freedom and justice even today.

The U.S. military, and specifically our nation's involvement in the Korean War, was the beginning of the end of institutionalized segregation in America and helped create an environment that led to President Johnson signing legislation and the Supreme Court rendering decisions that called for the fair and equal treatment of all citizens.

As we continue to commemorate the 60^th Anniversary of the Signing of the Armistice that ended fighting in Korea, we should remember that African American service members helped to save that nation from communist oppression and opened doors for all African Americans in the United States Americans through their service and sacrifice.

Lieutenant Colonel Timothy Washington is Deputy Director, Department of Defense 60^th Anniversary of the Korean War Commemoration Committee.

Sept. 22, 2013

To Be Equal

Lessons of “The Butler” Still Relevant Today
By Marc H. Morial

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - “Everything you are and everything you have is because of that butler.” Gloria Gaines, wife of Cecil Gaines as played by Oprah Winfrey in “The Butler.”

We tend to think of politicians, pundits and school books as the great troubadours of history and shapers of public opinion.  But when a movie like “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” comes along, we are reminded that nothing moves the spirit or traces time like simple storytelling.   The film not only offers a rare glimpse inside the everyday world of the dignified men in tuxedos who silently serve American presidents and their guests, in two hours it covers four decades of civil rights history as seen through the eyes of a Black White House butler who worked through eight administrations.  

Hollywood has historically shied away from more serious Black, historical themed movies, believing they have limited box-office appeal.  In fact, the film’s African American director, Lee Daniels, had a hard time corralling 41 producers to finance “The Butler.”  Some critics have also claimed weariness at the retelling of the African American freedom story.  But, recent events tell us that this story isn’t simply being retold; it is being relived – and there are still lessons to be learned.

After seeing the film, three observations stood out for me.  First, the 2012 killing of Trayvon Martin reminds us of the 1955 murder of Emmitt Till as described in the movie.  Second, the recent extremist and Supreme Court attacks on voting rights are wake up calls as chilling as the 1960’s Freedom Ride bus bombings depicted in the film. Lastly, growing income inequality and the less-than–living-wages paid to millions of African American and working class citizens today recall the decades-long fight for equal pay that was waged by Black White House butlers in the movie. 

“The Butler” also has some interesting insights into the ideological and generational divide within African American families that has sometimes caused rifts between fathers and sons, as well as mothers and daughters, who have different perspectives on the pace and methods of civil rights activism.   The movie also explodes the myth of mindless subservience often associated with Black maids and butlers by highlighting their dignity, intelligence, and sometimes subversive contributions to African American progress. Young people today must not forget that “everything they are and everything they have” was made possible by the grandmothers and grandfathers who came before them, many of whom struggled to make a better life for the next generation.

Finally, the admonition to “The Butler,” Cecil Gaines, that “the room should feel empty when you are in it,” reminds us of the phenomenon of “double consciousness” -- the need to assume a dual identity -- first described by W.E.B. Du Bois that many African Americans from all walks of life still experience today.

“The Butler” delivers these and many other important messages with an all-star cast of African American actors, including Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, Cuba Gooding Jr., Lenny Kravitz, David Oyelowo, and Terrence Howard.  The movie was inspired by the real life story of Eugene Allen who retired as head butler in 1986 and died in 2010 after serving 34 years in the White House.  Allen’s story was first told in a 2008 Washington Post article by Haygood Will in which Allen and his wife, Helene, shared their excitement over the chance to vote for America’s first Black President.  Helene died before the election.  Allen lived to cast his vote and attend the inauguration of President Barack Obama. 

Perhaps one of the most important lessons for Hollywood, as the film’s North American total hit $100 million this weekend with support from a multicultural audience base, is that the African American story is the American story – and that never gets old.

Sept. 17, 2013

Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Makes Historic Deposit in Black Banks
By Hazel Trice Edney

CBCF President/CEO Shuanise Washington announce historic deposit in Black-owned banks. In the back ground, National Bankers Association President President Michael Grant and CBCF Chairman Chaka Fattah look on. PHOTO: Rodney L. Minor/BRTV

(TriceEdneyWire.com) -The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, kicking off its Annual Legislative Conference (ALC) with the theme, “It Starts With You,” this week aimed to illustrate that theme through economic action.

The organization deposited $5 million into five Black-owned banks, continuing a national movement, fueled by the National Bankers Association, to reinvest in the community by supporting Black and minority-owned banks.

“Our $5 million investment is part of a new effort at the Foundation to strengthen the economy and Black communities. We saw a need and an opportunity to support much needed progress in economic recovery in African-American communities and we seized it,” said CBCF President/CEO Shuanise Washington at a press conference Tuesday. “Today’s announcement is truly historic. This investment is a critical initiative in lifting the economic fortunes of African-American and minority communities. Historically and still today, minority and women-owned banks have been an important source of credit and accessible financial services. minority-owned banking is key to reaching unbanked, under banked and financially underserved African-American communities.”

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus have long pointed to the scourge of economic suffering and unemployment in Black communities as being among the chief issues across America. Two years ago, CBC members even held job fairs around the country, watching as African-Americans lined up around entire city blocks.

“The Foundation wants to set an example. And we think the best way to do that is not rhetorically but through action. And where we invest our money, we think will lay a pathway for others who want to follow and support the work of the Foundation,” said CBCF Chairman Chaka Fattah (D-Pa.). “So African-American financial institutions play an extraordinarily important role in the eco-system of the development of entrepreneurs in our communities; also to help families seeking to send a young person to college or a group of people who are trying to organize and develop a religious institution, a family trying to buy a home a get a mortgage, these institutions are vital.”

The five Black banks receiving $1 million each are Industrial Bank in Washington, D.C.; Liberty Bank & Trust Company in New Orleans; Mechanics & Farmers Bank in Durham; Seaway Bank & Trust Company in Chicago and City National Bank of New Jersey in Newark.

The movement to reinvest in Black banks actually started in earnest last year when the U. S. Black Chamber of Commerce and the Washington, D.C.-based National Bankers Association, led by President/CEO Michael Grant, established a partnership to establish the Chamber’s primary account with Industrial.

Grant praised the CBCF for its historic vision of a world free of economic disparities “dating back to greats like Congressional Representatives Shirley Chisholm, Parren Mitchell, Louis Stokes, Charlie Rangel, John Conyers, Ron Dellums, and others.”

He quoted Dr. King, who, in his final days fought for economic justice.

“Dr. King was known for his prophecy. In closing, I would like to predict the future as well. If Black Americans will significantly increase their support of Black businesses, in a single generation, we would witness a drastic reduction in unemployment, an increase in high school graduation rates and a decline in crime in our neighborhoods,” Grant said.

The millions will go a long way in helping individuals in communities that have been hardest hit back the economic downturn says Doyle Mitchell, NBA chair and president/CEO of Industrial Bank, which will turn 80 next year.

“I have put the numbers together and I see now…Over  50 percent of our loans that we make go into underserved communities and nearly 80 percent of our loans go right here in Metropolitan Washington. According to the FDIC, small banks, community banks, make almost 50 percent of all small business loans. We know that small businesses in this country employ nearly 80 percent of the all the country’s individuals,” Mitchell says. “Most of the communities served by African-American banks are urban and disadvantaged. And while banks of other ethnic groups, Asians and Hispanics do an excellent job at that we do the same job right here in African-American communities.”

U. S. Black chamber President/CEO Ron Busby stressed the need for strong banks to undergird small businesses that in turn fuel the economy.

“When we surveyed our businesses, the common concern they all had was access to capital,” said Busby, who oversees 112 chambers in 24 states, representing over 240,000 Black-owned business nationwide. “If the number one concern for our businesses is access then capital; then the number one concern for our businesses is unemployment. There are roughly two million African-American owned businesses in America and approximately 14 percent unemployment for African-Americans. The African-American unemployment rate in this country is almost double the national average. If we can grow our firms to where they have the capacity to employ just one additional employee, we can quell the high unemployment that plagues our community.”

The benefits of Black-owned banks – when they are profitable and supported within their own communities are extensive, experts say.

“Minority-Owned Banks – and specifically Black-owned Banks - are a foundational business in America's
urban area,” says Dr. Russ Kashian, an economics professor at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, who participated in the press conference. “They serve several key roles.  They provide banking services to areas that are often barren of any other mainstream banking services.  They attract monies into the community through reasonably aggressive interest rates on CD's. They are a source of valuable ‘jobs with ladders’ for the neighborhood - these jobs for tellers, loan officers, mortgage originators offer family wages and the opportunity for training and skill enrichment.”

President Obama has made it clear that support for the “middle class” is a key strategy to strengthen the economy. But, Washington says she hopes the move to strengthen Black banks will also “draw the traditionally unbanked poor into the mainstream economy.”

Fattah says he hopes other institutions will take heed to the example that has been set.

“The pillars of power have to be both political and economic,” he said. “And we are leaning forward to say that we’re going to make an investment and we expect that others who are our allies and our friends and support the foundation will follow likewise.”