Dec. 2, 2018

Rev. Barbara Skinner and Intergenerational Leadership

By Julianne Malveaux

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Barbara Williams Skinner, at 75, looks at least two decades younger than her birth certificate suggests.  Much of her youthful energy is due to her discipline, which includes a mindful prayer practice, a vegetarian diet, and a focused mind.  But as much of her youthfulness, I think, can be attributed to her engagement with emerging leaders, the younger people who are poised to lead and learn.  On November 29, she celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Skinner Leadership Institute (www.skinnerleadership.org), the organization she founded to offer leadership lessons to both emerging and established leaders.

While well known in Washington political circles, as the founder (with her now-deceased husband Tom Skinner) of the Prayer Breakfast at the Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference, Skinner is not the household word that she should be.  She has been a spiritual advisor to many members of Congress and to President Barack Obama, and she has done the "bridge building" work of bringing together African American leaders who have sometimes had contentious relationships.  For more than a decade, she pulled corporate, political, and community people together for a retreat that involved both learning time and bonding time.  Mrs. Coretta Scott King, Dr. Betty Shabazz, Dr. Maya Angelou, and Dick Gregory were among those who attended the retreat.

Barbara Skinner was the first Executive Director of the Congressional Black Caucus.   Although she was raised by a hard-working, God-fearing mother, Skinner spent much of her young adult life mad at God.  She writes movingly of her journey in her new book, "I Prayed, Now What:  My Journey from No Faith to Deep Faith" (Fortune Publishing Group: 2018). 

Barbara writes about her struggle to embrace God, her relationship and marriage to Tom Skinner, who had been a spiritual advisor to, among others, the Washington Redskins, and about ways to pray for political enemies.  She spoke of these things, and many more, at the celebration of the Skinner Leadership Institute, an event that not only celebrated Skinner and her leadership, but also lifted up some of the women around her. The intergenerational group she lifted up included Melanie Campbell, of the National Coalition for Black Civic Participation and Chanelle Hardy, who holds a leadership role at Google and is an alumna of the Skinner Leadership Master Series for Distinguished Leaders.  Elders like Dr. Johnnetta Betsch Cole (former president of both Bennett and Spellman Colleges),  the Honorable Constance Berry Newman (perhaps the only Black woman to have served under 7 Presidents, with 5 Senate confirmations), the Honorable Alexis Herman, 23rd Secretary of Labor, and former Essence Editor in Chief and founder of National Cares Mentoring Inc.  Susan Taylor.  Former DC First Lady Cora Masters Barry was among the other elders lifted up.   It was characteristic of Barbara to share her celebration with women who have made a difference in her life and in the lives of others.

Barbara Skinner has always embraced emerging leadership and provided a bridge for younger leaders to connect with seasoned one.  I've had the pleasure of mentoring young women through her Master Series for Distinguished Leadership for more than a decade, and have enjoyed the energy and ideas that these young sisters have brought into my life.  But with Congresswoman Barbara Lee "in the house" after her stinging defeat to be Democratic Caucus Chair, there were angry whispers among some of us gathered about the meaning of intergenerational leadership.  Was New York Congressman Hakeem Jefferies disrespectful and opportunistic (yes) in going after a position that Lee had been campaigning for more than eight months (full disclosure – I helped)?  What does it mean that there is no Black woman in the formal leadership of the House of Representatives, even though Black women are the backbone of the Democratic Party?   Does intergenerational leadership mean that seasoned leaders have to step aside, or does it suggest that emerging leaders need to pull a chair (not a treacherous knife) up to the table?  Even as we enjoyed a loving tribute to someone who has been a bridge (a word used frequently, and a word that Skinner's pastor, Dr. David Anderson, used to describe her), there was appreciation of Congresswoman Barbara Lee and anger about Hakeem Jeffries.

African American millennials may be justifiably impatient when Baby Boomers and those even older dominate African American leadership.  With the top three Congressional Democrats, Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, and James Clyburn, and also Barbara Lee all over 70, there is a compelling case to be made for the younger Jefferies, under 50, to be included in Congressional leadership.  At the same time, there is something to be said for seasoned leadership, and for the inclusion of the exceptional and courageous African American Barbara Lee, in leadership.  There were undoubtedly other issues, including those geographic and philosophical (Jeffries is more moderate than Lee, and Lee's chairmanship would have put two Californians in the top four leaders), but true intergenerational cooperation would require something more than the gangsta move Jefferies pulled to eke out his win (by 10 votes).

Julianne Malveaux is an author and economist. Her latest book “Are We Better Off? Race, Obama and Public Policy” is available via www.amazon.com for booking, wholesale inquiries or for more info visit www.juliannemalveaux.com

Dec. 2, 2018

The Devastation of Voter Suppression
By Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq. 

(TriceEdney Wire.com) – As we’ve looked at the races for U.S. Senate and Governors of States, many of us are absolutely certain the wrong person was credited with the victory. Looking at all the voter suppression that so brazenly took place in the last Presidential race and the races mentioned in the most recent election, I am absolutely certain that these races don’t represent the majority of the people who voted.

No matter who was wrongfully given credit for the victories, we know the victories belonged to Stacy Abrams, Andrew Gillum, Beto O’Rourke, Mike Espy. There’s nothing else they could’ve done to get credit for being victorious. We believe there’re bigger and better things just waiting for them. They were skillful, brilliant, positive and made us proud with the races they ran. Having been through a Congressional race that was stolen from my campaign for Congress years ago, I can relate to how they feel knowing they were the best candidates in their races, but were not given proper credit for the races they ran.

Let us wrap our arms around them long past Election Day. They’re our heroes/sheroes. Why? Even though the word WINNER does not stand by their names, they remain in our hearts for their effort. Having been through it, I can tell you those few weeks following an election experience like theirs, knowing that against the greatest of odds, you’ve done everything you should’ve done even though you weren’t allowed to step across the winner’s line, there’s a lot of pain. It takes time to re-group and figure out what you’ll do next. All the people who were by your side every day, are no longer there. After the race, you often have campaign debts to pay, and no longer are campaign donations coming in as they did during the campaign. You have the work of closing out your campaign office, settling the bills, filing the required reports and it’s not easy.

If you supported those candidates those candidates mentioned, continue to support them; but remember the less well known, too. Many of them still have campaign debts—so they continue to need your financial support. They also need your emotional support. Call them. Send them notes. Encourage them. Let them know you appreciate their efforts, their time spent, personal funds and effort they’ve put into working to make their campaigns succeed.

To the candidates who didn’t quite make it across the finish line this time, I would just say, “I, as well as many others, appreciate your valiant effort. Don’t give up if you want to try it again. If you want to run for public office again, many of us would still support your efforts. On the other hand, running for office can be a major sacrifice, so don’t just run again because others want you to run. You must be the judge of whether you want to do it again or not. There is normal life after any campaign. Yes, it takes awhile to realize that. What I found helpful after a devastating loss of less than 1% was to set a time limit of no more than six weeks to move on to the next phase of my life.”

Many of the people for whom we know were impacted by voter suppression, need our support most. It’s a characteristic of the so-called American democratic system to accept the results of whatever happened, and do nothing in between elections to deal with the problem. Let’s commit to change that and put voter suppression on our MUST RESOLVE list. I’m sure Congresswoman Marcia Fudge will be looking for ways to resolve this problem, so offer her your best thinking.

Dr. E. Faye Williams is President of the National Congress of Black Women. www.nationalcongressbw.org. She is also host of WPFW-FM 89.3’s “Wake Up and Stay Woke.