The Real Deal

GOP victory would restore outdated worldview

2012-02-03T11:54:00.000-05:00

As I sit here writing this at the kitchen table, I have hadto move the computer screen as the streams in over my shoulder.

Perhaps it’s the spring-like winter we are experiencing herein Cleveland. It has brought the early return of my backyard cardinals andbluebirds. But for the second consecutive day I am feeling optimistic.Yesterday, it was the signs of community collaboration and engagement on thepart of Cleveland’s too-often dormant and disengaged black middle class. Today,it’s the cumulative effect of the Republican effort to find a suitablecandidate to take on President Obama. I have swung back and forth betweenthinking that the Republicans were soaking up all the ink with their relentless— and generally false — attacks on the President, and then enjoying theirincreasingly savage attacks on each other.

Inpast election cycles, it’s been Democrats beating on one another while theRepublicans watched and waited for the chance to bomb the Dems for being “soft”on defense, appeal to the baser racial instincts of the GOP base, and touttheir presumptive superior economic policies.

Allof that is at the moment turned on its head. Gingrich and Santorum have provided great campaign fodder for Obama’sre-election effort against Mitt Romney, the likely GOP nominee. And Mitthimself continues to show how disconnected he is from the masses of Americans.

Sowhile I never underestimate right-wing willingness to appeal to the fears ofits base, I am for the moment feeling pretty good as conservative overreach hasstirred up women and even working-class Joes, who, if they are unable toidentify with Obama, will nonetheless vote to keep him in office.

Retainingthe president is important not only to prevent a rollback to the loot and stealpolicies of the Bush years, but essential to finding a way to navigate anincreasingly complex world. When Bush I proclaimed a “new world order” afterthe fall of the Soviet Union, he had the right term but the wrongunderstanding. He clearly envisioned aworld in which the United States would be unchallenged militarily andpolitically.

Thepast twenty years have shown just how wrong Bush I and “Mission Accomplished”Bush II were in hewing to American military might and the US as the world’spolice force. Both Romney and his main GOP challengers — Gingrich andSantorum — are even further to the right with their trumpeting of “Americanexceptionalism”.

Whilethe domestic political landscape can change on a dime, what doesn’t change isthe need for the President of the United States to have an understanding of therest of the world.

Thepandering of Romney and his rivals to those who long for what is basically avision of international white supremacy is increasingly out of date in a worldthat is more intricately colored day by day. Nobody talks about this moreclearly than a “colored” American named Fareed Zakaria, about whom I havewritten briefly before here.Here is his open letter to Mitt Romney:

The world has changed, Mr. Romney

“Dear Mitt Romney,

… I’d like to call attention to a line you have usedrepeatedly: “This is a president who fundamentally believes that this nextcentury is the post-American century.” … [L]et me make sure you know whatexactly you are attacking.

… the age of Americanunipolarity — which began with the collapse of the Soviet Union — has ended.For a quarter-century after the collapse of communism, the United Statesdominated the world with no real political or economic competitors. Its ideasand its model — the Washington consensus — became received wisdom everywhere.

Today we are in a different era. In 1990, China represented2 percent of global gross domestic product. It has quadrupled, to 8 percent,and is rising. By most estimates, China’s economy will become the world’slargest between 2016 and 2018.

… It is not just China that is rising. Emerging powers onevery continent have achieved political stability and economic growth and arebecoming active on the global stage. Twenty years ago Turkey was a fragile democracy,dominated by its army, that had a weak economy constantly in need of Westernbailouts. Today, Turkey has a trillion-dollar economy that grew 6.6 percentlast year. Since April 2009, Turkey hascreated 3.4 million jobs — more than the European Union, Russia andSouth Africa put together. That might explain Prime Minister Recep TayyipErdogan’s confidence and his country’s energetic foreign policy.

Look in this hemisphere: In 1990, Brazil was emerging fromdecades of dictatorship and was wracked by inflation rates that reached 3,000percent. Its president was impeached in 1992. Today, the country is a stabledemocracy, steadily growing with foreign-exchange reserves of $350 billion. Itsforeign policy has become extremely active. President Dilma Rousseff is in Cubathis week, “marking Brazil’s highest-profile bid to transform its growingeconomic might into diplomatic leadership in Latin America,” the Wall Street Journal reportedWednesday. Brazil’s state development bank is financing a $680million rehabilitation of Cuba’s port at Mariel.

… I could go on.

This is a new world, very different from the America-centricone we got used to over the last generation. Obama has succeeded in preservingand even enhancing U.S. influence in this world precisely because he hasrecognized these new forces at work. He has traveled to the emerging nationsand spoken admiringly of their rise. He replaced the old Western club and madethe Group of 20 the central decision-making forum for global economic affairs.By emphasizing multilateral organizations, alliance structures andinternational legitimacy, he got results. It was Chinese and Russiancooperation that produced tougher sanctions against Iran. It was the Arab League’sformal request last year that made Western intervention in Libyauncontroversial.

By and large, you have ridiculed this approach to foreignpolicy, arguing that you would instead expand the military, act unilaterallyand talk unapologetically. That might appeal to Republican primary voters, butchest-thumping triumphalism won’t help you secure America’s interests or idealsin a world populated by powerful new players.

You can call this new century whatever you like, but itwon’t change reality. After all, just because we call it the World Seriesdoesn’t make it one.” Source

I couldn’t have said itbetter. Find the entire column here.

Nonprofit Thursday Returns!

2012-02-02T16:54:00.000-05:00

Today is a promising day in Cleveland’s nonprofit world. Regular readersin this space are familiar with how underperforming we find so many of thenonprofits whose principal mission is to serve the African American community.But even the local NAACP has at least bestirred itself to address one ofthe burning issues of the day — the election of the next Cuyahoga Countyprosecutor. They are sponsoring a debate among the five candidates nextTuesday, February 7 from 7-8:30PM at St. James A.M.E. Church, 8401 Cedar Ave.

The Societyof Urban Professionals hasfor the last several years been one of the brightest lights on our localnonprofit scene. S.O.U.P. knows how to put on a party and how to have fun, butthey also put together some top-notch lunches with speakers who address topicsof special interests to African American professionals. Now the group isexpanding its horizons with the establishment of the Greater Cleveland UrbanFilm Festival, set to debut April 19-22 at the Shaker Square Cinema.

The festival will showcase local emerging talent as well as establishedartists in the world of independent filmmaking. GCUFF’s programming objectiveis to educate, entertain and highlight the African American experience viafilms and documentaries that represent the African American journey. They alsohope to encourage area students to consider a career in the film industry.

GCUFF’s artistic director is Neal Hodges, a fixture on Cleveland’s artsscene via his work with Karamu and other organizations. Hodges told The RealDeal that Cleveland has given birth to or nurtured much outstanding talent inthe movie industry, including Hallie Berry, Terrence Howard, Bill Cobbs, andKym Whitley. He thinks their success and connections can help foster bothGCUFF’s success as well as the development of new local talent.

The Festival is reaching out to film programs in the region’sinstitutions of higher learning in a call for films for this year’s inauguralevent. Festival principals also hope to land one or two nationally known actorsfor the premiere.

In a prepared statement, co-founder and executive director Donna Dabbssaid the Festival has been established itself as a as a nonprofit 501(c) (3)organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of African Americanand African Diaspora cinema as well as the education of media arts, said DonnaDabbs of SOUP. The organization's board will consist of community mindedcitizens and business leaders dedicated to the promotion and marketing of theGreater Cleveland Urban Film Festival.

Alton Tinker, co-founder of both S.O.U.P. and theFestival, said in the Festival press release that "We are continuing tobuild our brand and promote our image in Cleveland and the film festival is onemore way that SOUP can contribute to building and connecting our urbanprofessionals in Greater Cleveland". Tinker serves as the director offunding and sponsorship for GCUFF.

For more information, contact Neal Hodges at 216-214-6383,email
Info@gcuff.net, orvisit the Festival website at www.gcuff.net.

• • •

The local chapter of the National Black MBA Association also has some positive initiativesgoing. On Tuesday, Feb. 7, it will host a webinar on "Sustainable Business101: Re-Thinking How We Conduct Business in Tomorrow's Economy". Localattorney David E Nash, partner at McMahon DeGullis, an environmental law firm,will present.

To register, visit http://anymeeting.com;for more information contact program and events co-chairs Starlyn Priest orTammy Monroe at programs.clevelandblackmbas@hotmail.com.

The chapter also is sponsoring an academicleadership and enrichment program,Leaders of Tomorrow, to serve area high school students who demonstrateleadership potential. The program offers a special curriculum that focuses onmentoring, cultural exposure, experiential learning, and college preparation.

Formore information contact Catrina Palmer at catrinapalmer1@gmail.com.

• • •

One of the strongest and most positive areanonprofits in the black community is the Consortiumof African American Organizations [CAAO].

CAAO is now lookingfor new leadership following the retirement of the one-of-a-kind Connie Atkins. Resumesare currently being accepted until February 25 for a new Executive Director ofthe Consortium. Go to the website to see the job description - www.caao.net.

If you are passionate about CAAO's mission, energetic, and an excellentcommunicator (and able to raise money), this may be for you.

• • •

Black History Month at the Maltz Museum

In recognition of BlackHistory Month, the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage has announced two specialprograms related to the Black Experience in America.

On Wednesday, February 8,Cleveland Public Theatre director Beth Wood and members of the cast of Antebellumwill talk about and perform selected scenes from this provocative drama thatunfolds against the backdrop of a southern plantation, a German concentrationcamp and the 1939 Atlanta premiere of Gone with the Wind; a play thatresonates with the entwining realities of Nazi cruelty and Hollywood dreams.Program beings at 7pm; advance tickets available $10 ($8 Museum members) - call216.593.0575 to purchase.

The Museum will be open onPresidents Day (Monday, February 20) 11am - 5pm. At 1pm there is a specialprogram, free with Museum admission, featuring portrayals of Abraham Lincolnand four other U.S. Presidents of the past. The performers will tell theaudience about their life and times, and be available for questions after thepresentation. No reservations required.

Maltz Museum ExecutiveDirector Judi Feniger notes, "The core of our work at the Museum is outreachto people from all backgrounds, races, religions and cultures. As The Museum ofDiversity and Tolerance, we're always looking for ways to share experiences andfoster community collaboration and conversation." The Museum's most recentspecial exhibition was Hardship to Hope: African American Art from theKaramu Workshop, and for the fourth year it was open free to the public onMartin Luther King Jr. Day, welcoming nearly 1,200 visitors.

The Museum is located at 2929 Richmond Rd. Beachwood,Ohio 44122
(216). Learn more: www.maltzmuseum.org, 216.593-0575.

• • •

NonprofitDirectors and Trustees:

Ifyou struggle to manage and retain your volunteers or if you are unsure of howbest to use volunteer talent to help your organization grow, then Grassroots Networking Night: Tapping into Talent may be the event for you.

On Wednesday,February 8, 5:30 —7:30 pm, you can meet, greet, ask questions, makeconnections, and have some fun in a version of “speed dating” with invitedpresenters who will share tips from their successful real-world experiencesbuilding a movement around their organization’s mission.

Featuredpresenters are JoyBanish, ExecutiveDirector of Greater Cleveland Volunteers; JeffGriffiths,Founder and Executive Director of HandsOn Northeast Ohio; and Ann Kent, Vice President, Services to Nonprofitsat BusinessVolunteers Unlimited.

WHERE: TheFoundation Center-Cleveland 1422 Euclid Ave. Suite 1600, Cleveland, OH44115

COST: Free.

• • •

Kearney to replace Cafaro as minority leader

2012-01-24T17:07:00.000-05:00

Kearney to replaceCafaro as minority leader

State Senator Eric Kearney,D-Cincinnati, will become Senate minority leader next week, replacing Sen.Capri S. Cafaro, D-Hubbard, according to TheColumbus Dispatch. Cafaro has served as minority leader since January 2009.

BULLETIN: New Twist in Prosecutor’s Race

2012-01-24T16:35:00.001-05:00

BULLETIN:New Twist in Prosecutor’s Race

The Civic Commons and The CitizensLeague of Greater Cleveland are collaborating on a unique online forum with theDemocratic candidates for county prosecutor that if successful maysignificantly affect the way future races are conducted in our community.

Through the forum, in which all fivecandidates are participating, voters may pose questions directly to eachcandidate. The answers will be online for all to see. The forum, which startedtoday, will continue through Thursday, January 26.

You can pose your questions anytime —some questions have been posted already, along with answers from candidates TimMcGinty, Robert Triozzi, and Stephanie Hall. But don’t expect any more answersuntil after tonight’s old-fashioned forum at the Laborers Hall, 3210 EuclidAve. That event, sponsored by the North Shore AFL-CIO Federation of Labor, willgo from 5-7PM and is open to the public.

More debates scheduled

The next debate will be tomorrow, Wednesday, January 25 at 7:00 PM at the BrecksvilleCommunity Center, One Community Drive, in Brecksville. It will bemoderated by Tom Beres of WKYC Channel 3, and sponsored by a collection ofDemocratic Clubs.

The candidates will debate again on February 4from noon until 2:30 PM at the EastCleveland Public Library, 14101 Euclid Avenue, in an event sponsored by theEast Cleveland Coalition.

The traditional City Club debate will be February15 from noon until 1:30 PM at The City Club, 850 Euclid Ave. Admissionwill be charged, though the program may be accessed via radio and television[on a delayed basis]. Go here for more information.

Evangelical Myopia = redefinition of color blindness.

2012-01-24T10:51:00.000-05:00

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: it EATS THEM ALIVE that President Barack and First Lady Michelle Obama exude all the wholesome, family-friendly, family-devoted qualities that they blather on about all the time. — Jack & Jill Politics SOURCE

Richmond Hts school board starts new year; superintendent remains in limbo

2012-01-09T17:49:00.000-05:00

A new era should be ushered in this eveningwhen the Richmond Heights Board of Education holds its organizational meetingat 7PM.

Longtime school board member Linda Pliodzinskas is expected tobecome the new board president, succeeding Josh Kaye, whose presidency wasmarked by numerous controversies, unusual board turnover, and general tumult.Kaye remains a member of the board as his term has two years remaining.

It is not known when or how the new Board willaddress the ongoing suspension of Superintendent Linda T. Hardwick, whosecontract runs through June 30.

Tonight’s organizational meeting will befollowed by a 2013 Tax Budget hearing, expected to begin about 8PM.

County Prosecutor Campaign: Video + Updates

2012-01-09T17:00:00.002-05:00

CountyProsecutor Campaign: Video + Updates

Hereis the first video segment of last week’s Prosecutor Debate. There will be more.

Somehelpful notes:

1. The candidates appear in this order:James J. McDonnell, Subodh Chandra, Stephanie Hall, and Robert Triozzi.

2. The moderator is T. J. Dow. Countycouncilwoman Yvonne Conwell introduces each candidate.

Thesecond debate in the campaign will be held this Thursday at 7PM at theCleveland Heights Community Center, One Monticello Blvd. The Cleveland HeightsDemocratic Club is the primary sponsor.

Allsix candidates have confirmed their participation.

Atleast two other debates have also been scheduled in this race:

• Saturday, February 4 from noon until 2:30PMat the East Cleveland Public Library, 14101 Euclid Ave. Sponsor: East ClevelandCoalition. Contact info: 216.659.4619 or cebibbsr@yahoo.com.

•Wednesday, February 15 from noon until 1:30PM, City Club of Cleveland, 850Euclid Ave. Contact info: 216.621.0082 or www.cityclub.org. $$.

• • •

First County Prosecutor Debate: Herald of a New Era?

2012-01-06T18:17:00.000-05:00

First CountyProsecutor Debate: Herald of a New Era?

Longtimecounty prosecutor John T. Corrigan, who held the position from 1956 to 1991,surely turned over in his grave last night.

Ina remarkable scene that would have been unimaginable two decades ago, fourcandidates seeking election to the powerful position showed up in the innercity to present their credentials to rank and file county residents, andprobably of greater importance, to hear from those most affected by the justicesystem exactly what needs to be fixed.

Thescene was set in motion by the decision last year of outgoing prosecutor BillMason not to stand for reelection, even though he had used his political muscleto preserve the office as an elected position in the new county government thatdebuted this year.

TheNovember 2009 county election approved a new county charter that had been stitchedtogether in a thoroughly non-transparent process by a small group of largelyunaccountable politicians.

Allof that helped set the stage for last night’s spectacle in which a historicallyfractured community of activists staged a campaign event at a rundown anddeservedly little-known facility euphemistically called Lil Africa PartyCenter.

Intothe heart of Cleveland’s eastside black community last night eagerly camegraduates of such illustrious universities as Yale, Cornell, and Stanford, tobe cross-examined on the record by alumni of assorted federal penitentiariesand state prisons, who were prominent on the select and well-chosen panel andin the audience, which itself was a surprising and peculiarly diverse admixtureof professions, geography, and ethnicity.

Well more than a hundred county residents paidclose attention to the debate. Their numbers included state and county electedofficials, formerly incarcerated persons [aka “felons”], grandmothers, andadvocates for justice and a new day for citizens, victims and defendants alike.

No Clear Debate Winner

Whileno candidate delivered a knockout blow to rivals or self-destructed, this firstjoint appearance of a compressed primary election campaign did afford eachparticipant opportunity to test individual strengths and probe opponent weaknesses. Andeach candidate perforce put on display aspects of personality and temperamentthat could factor in voter assessments of how he/she would be likely to handlethe enormous discretionary power and manifold daily challenges that willconfront the next prosecutor.

CandidatesMcDonnell and Chandra were easily the most assertive, though in different ways.McDonnell is a bear of a man, gregarious, forthright and practically in yourface with his insistence on being the most experienced trial attorney fromeither the defense or prosecutorial side. Chandra’s apparently boundlessconfidence in his superior fitness for the office appears to emanate from asense of intellectual excellence. He seems to have thought about every issuethe next prosecutor will encounter, and to have worked out a three or five pointprogram to address it.

Triozziand Hall are much less assertive in their presentation, evoking instead a morenuanced approach. This seemed especially true of Triozzi, the only candidate onstage with judicial experience. In what may have been only Hall’s second publicappearance ever as a candidate for any race — she appeared at the endorsementmeeting of the Democratic executive committee at Music Hall last month — she isstill becoming comfortable with public speaking. Hall brings a unique resume tothe race as both lawyer and police officer. She is also the only woman and theonly African American in the race.

Many Public Concerns

Afterone turn from each panelist, moderator T. J. Dow, the Cleveland Ward 7councilman, opened the floor to audience questions. A long and diverse linequickly formed. They had well-formed questions and by and large presented themsuccinctly.

Thequestions dealt with an abundance of concerns: public corruption, excessive useof police force, the grand jury process, bias, fairness, diversity, truancy,police perjury, over-indictments, jury selection, prosecutorial misconduct,children and family services, domestic violence.

Thedepth and breadth of the questioners’ concerns was eloquent testimony to how inneed of repair is the county judicial system.

More debates scheduled

Atleast two other debates have been scheduled for the six candidatesparticipating in the Democratic primary. No Republican has filed for the officeso the March 6 primary winner will be the presumptive county prosecutor-elect.

TheCleveland Heights Democrats will host the candidates in debate next Thursday,January 12, 7 PM at the Heights Community Center, One Monticello Blvd. [cornerof Mayfield Rd.].

OnSaturday, February 4, the East Cleveland Coalition will sponsor a candidatedebate from noon to 2:30 PM at the East Cleveland Library, 14101 Euclid Ave.

Early voting starts in 26 days.

• • •

BULLETIN: Site of prosecutor campaign debate becomes homicide scene only hours later

2012-01-06T11:38:00.001-05:00

BULLETIN:

Siteof prosecutor campaign debate becomes homicide scene only hours later

An epochal event in Cleveland politicalhistory — an inner-city debate sponsored by community activists that featuredfour of the six contestants for Cuyahoga County’s top law enforcement job — becamea crime scene only a few hours after the event closed.

Preliminary information obtained by The RealDeal indicate that a disgruntled patron had an angry confrontation with ownerMike Nelson over his take-out chicken order at the Kitchen Restaurant, 6816Superior Ave.

The customer, reported to be a 32-year oldCleveland man, returned about midnight as the restaurant was closing. Nelsongrabbed his shotgun as he saw the man approach with a gun in each hand. Afteror during a further angry exchange, Nelson shot and killed the intruder.

The rear of the storefront restaurant is hometo the Lil Africa Party Center, where only a few hours earlier, communityactivists and candidates for county prosecutor — including former city lawdirectors Subodh Chandra and Robert Triozzi, former suburban prosecutor JamesMcDonnell, and attorney and police officer Stephanie Hall — engaged in aremarkable discussion about law enforcement.

As we have come to expect, The Plain Dealer has early coverage of the crime but did not deign the community-organized debate newsworthy. Only when they read this will they learn the significance of the crime scene.

Our report on the debate itself will appearhere this afternoon.

Today's Politics: President visits; Turner looks at independent run

2012-01-04T23:28:00.000-05:00

Magnetic President Returns to ChargeFaithful Base

President Obama cameto Cleveland today to deliver what was billed as a major speech on the economy.What he delivered was substantially less, but it mattered not to the adoringcapacity crowd that filled every nook and cranny of the Shaker Heights HighSchool gym for a chance to be in his presence.

The president’s keyannouncement was his recess appointment of former Ohio Attorney General RichardCordray as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The presidenthad nominated Cordray last July to head the new agency but Senate Republicans haverefused to allow the nomination to come to the floor for an up or down vote.

That nomination hadalready been leaked to national media before the president arrived, so the realimpact of the president’s visit was the unofficial launch of his reelectioncampaign. Judging by the lines of folk who snaked three or four abreast aroundthe Shaker Board of Education headquarters last night in bitter cold, enthusiasmremains strong in this neck of the woods for a second Obama term.

Not only did acrowd arrive early last night to stand outside school administration headquarters fortickets for the president's appearance, they were back this morning at 10:30,almost three hours in advance of the President’s talk. It was a festiveatmosphere both for the hundreds of students, perhaps forty percent of anestimated 1400 attendees, as well as the nearly thousand adults. And almost all stayed patiently in place for longer than the President spoke, as he worked the crowd and departed the scene.

We will try and post video of the event on Thursday.*

* Update [Jan. 6]: Technical difficulties prevented me from posting my video. Here is the C-Span broadcast.

• • •

Turner weighs independent run againstFudge

Yesterday’s postcontained the following paragraph, which may require me to swallow some crow:

“And for those of youwho read [State Senator Nina] Turner’s statement declining to re-file against[US Rep. Marcia] Fudge as holding open the possibility that she might run as anindependent, don’t hold your breath.”

Today, we heard frommultiple sources that Turner is circulating petitions to run as for Congress asan independent. If Turner files sufficient petitions by March 5, it will set upa head-to-head ballot contest in November.

Turner’s statement last week that she would not challenge Fudge in the March 6 Democratic primaryreferred to the difficulty of mounting a viable challenge in a short primaryseason. An independent campaign would bypass that issue, though it wouldpresent other challenges.

Stay tuned.

Fudge-Turner: Leadership & Opportunity

2012-01-03T19:23:00.000-05:00

Fudge-Turner: Leadership & Opportunity

We were disappointedbut not surprised when State Senator Nina Turner announced last week that shewas dropping her bid to take on Rep. Marcia Fudge for the Democratic nominationfor the 11^th District Congressional seat.

The handwriting wason the wall when Turner had no response to the back-to-back images of prettymuch the entire Democratic Party establishment, first in Cuyahoga County and thenin Akron, standing shoulder to shoulder with the incumbent. It was clear atthat point that Turner is not yet quite ready for prime time. She hadn’t raisedthe money or put together the organization to wage a competitive race. And asshe correctly noted, the redistricting agreement reached last month by the OhioGeneral Assembly aided most political incumbents, including Fudge, even thoughit was unhealthy for Ohio voters.

My disappointment atTurner’s decision is because it postpones what has already been delayed for fartoo long: community dialogue about what kind of leadership is needed to move usforward. Many black people decry the one leader at a time syndrome — theMessiah model in its worst incarnation — but we seem to default to it time andagain. Marcia Fudge has been in Congress barely three years but many peopleseemed to think it a crime that someone would step forward to challenge her.

As a community weneed to get to a place where we hold our elected officials accountable, wherethey understand that their job is not merely to hold place, but to advocate andadvance our interests, which includes developing talent and opportunitiesacross the board.

Has there ever been atime when status quo was good enough? Marcia Fudge demonstrated in response tothe whiff of a challenge that she could assemble a throng to defend her seat.Perhaps that will be impetus for her to claim the seat independently as opposedto having merely been its inheritor.

Lou Stokes held thatseat long enough to establish and perpetuate a godfather model of blackpolitics. He served as arbiter of political turf battles within the districtand on occasion as spokesman for the black community. He hasn’t been in officefor over a decade, he no longer even lives here, and it’s not clear that hisperceptions and judgments are in tune with the community [consider for examplehis outmoded views on county reorganization, his top-down leadership model, andhis aversion to transparency].

The departure ofStokes, the unexpected and unhappy demise of Stephanie Tubbs Jones, and thedestruction of the inefficient and corrupt county Democratic Party regime[inefficient and corrupt = the worst of all possible combinations] have led toa vacuum in local black politics. The old guard leadership of Stokes and GeorgeForbes is clearly inadequate. Their insistence on retaining power as personalprivilege thwarted the development of next-generation political and community leaders.

Our most accomplishedand competent civic leaders these days probably reside in the judiciary. Theyare elected through the political process but are barred by their offices fromovert political activity. Carl Stokes was running an electrifying and organicmayoral campaign in his mid-thirties. Today, potential leaders of similarvintage like county councilmen Julian Rogers and Pernel Jones Jr. are stillgetting their feet wet as public officials. We now have a bevy of suburban citymayors and council people but not a one who steps up on any issue beyond his orher municipality.

Turner’s inability tomount a credible campaign need not mean that critical community questions ofleadership, education, economics, equity, housing, development, etc., continueto go unaddressed. The unopposed Fudge now has a golden opportunity to claimher office by setting forth a new model of local community empowerment. Sheseemed momentarily on that path when she tinkered a few years ago withrevitalizing the moribund Congressional District Caucus apparatus, switching itfrom an effete political arm to a nonprofit organization. But after a promisingstart, she either lost interest or got too busy.

The recentredistricting that incorporates parts of Akron and Summit County offer her anew chance at reorganizing the caucus as an effective tool for communitybuilding, community education, and leadership development. An intelligentrecasting of a once-valuable brand would be part of a Fudge political legacythat would demonstrate her worthy of continued active support and notreification by default of opposition.

• • •

For the record, wenoted in a previous post that three candidates filed have filed to run in theprimary. None have the potential to engage the community as a Fudge-Turner racemight have.

And for those of youwho read Turner’s statement declining to re-file against Fudge as holding openthe possibility that she might run as an independent, don’t hold your breath.

• • •

Wecommend to you this post by George Packer in The New Yorker dealing with the hopefully-soon-to-be-forgotten RickSantorum, political reporting, and the routine right-wing demonization ofPresident Obama.

Twoexcerpts:

… gutter rhetoric is so routine in theRepublican campaign that it’s not worth a political journalist’s time to pointit out. In 2008, when Michele Bachmann suggested that BarackObama and an unknown number of her colleagues in Congress were anti-American,there was a flurry of criticism; three years later, when a surging Presidentialcandidate states it flatly about a sitting President, there’s no response atall. Certain forms of deterioration … become acceptable by attrition, becausecritics lose the energy to call them out. Eventually, people even stopremembering that they’re wrong. …

Thegreat puzzle of the Republican campaign is that, in an era of unprecedentedideological fervor, the party will almost certainly nominate the candidate whois the blandest, least ideological, and least trusted by conservatives …Romney, forever stuck at twenty-five per cent, understands his situationacutely, … like an actor who normally does investment commercials and isimprobably cast in an ad for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He’s doing acredible job playing an intellectual thug, because that’s the only way to winthe nomination.

Itwould be a mistake, though, to believe that, long after Iowa, once the horserace is over, and if he’s elected, Romney could suddenly flip a switch, clearthe air of the toxicity left behind by the Republican field, and return tobeing a cautious centrist whose most reassuring quality is his lack ofprinciples. His party wouldn’t let him; and, after all, how a candidate runsshapes how a President governs. In politics, once a sellout, always a sellout;once a thug, always a thug.

• • •

Congresswoman Fudge Responds To News that Turner Won't Enter Primary

2011-12-30T17:46:00.001-05:00

The Campaign for Rep. Marcia L. Fudge released the followingstatement this afternoon:

I have great respect for State Senator Nina Turner and I wishher well in her future endeavors. It is my intention to maintain thetrust and confidence of the people of the 11th Congressional Districtand provide the representation they deserve. It is my honor andprivilege to serve them. I look forward to the opportunity to continue tobe their voice in Congress.

Three candidates have filed to run against Fudge in March 6Democratic primary. Well-known political activist and former Cleveland Schoolboard member Gerald C. Henley filed yesterday; his petitions have been ruledvalid. Marie Jefferson and Isaac Powell filed petitions by today’s 4PM deadline. The validity of their petitions will likely bedetermined next week by the county Board of Elections.

The winner of the Democratic primary will be the presumptivewinner in November’s election unless an independent candidate files to run byMarch 5. No Republican filed by today’s deadline.

BREAKING NEWS: Turner bows out; will not challenge Fudge

2011-12-30T14:27:00.001-05:00

Nina Turner issued the following statement through a spokesperson about 2 PM today:

"Last month, I filed to run for Congress with the intention to take on thestatus quo and give voters an opportunity for change. Since then, twothings have happened. First, the redistricting process was manipulated toallow incumbent politicians to guarantee their reelection. And, theprimary election was set for March 6, 2011, a date which gives challengerslittle time to wage competitive campaigns.

Under these circumstances, I have decided notto run as a Democrat in the 11^thCongressionalDistrict.

Let me be clear: Our community faceshuge challenges, which the present leadership has utterly failed to meet. Thepast few months have only convinced me and many Northeast Ohioans of thenecessity for change and reform, and so my work will continue. We can andmust do better."

Turner's spokesperson says the Senator is out of town and unavailable for comment.

Update on Jan. 5 Prosecutors Debate: McGinty camp reports his unavailability

2011-12-30T11:05:00.001-05:00

Our post yesterday included the following statement regarding ourconversations with each candidate as well as with Brendan Doyle, campaignmanager for Timothy McGinty:

The RealDeal contacted the other three candidates — Kelley, McDonnell and McGinty —yesterday, with each confirming their expectation to participate, althougha couple had reservations due either toscheduling conflicts or concerns about one of the sponsors. [emphasesadded]

Late last night we received an email from Mr. Doyle indicating hiscamp’s inability to resolve the scheduling conflict in favor of the debate.

If you read the comments to the original post, you won't have much trouble reading between the lines.

We just love our Kentucky Negroes

2011-12-30T10:51:00.001-05:00

We just love our Kentucky Negroes

We thank our fashion friend Kim for alerting us to this incredibleproduct offering:

Coclico, a shoe manufacturer, is offering ladies’ boots in thatfab color “Kentucky Negro”!

Take a look here for another reason to celebrate how President Obama’s electionushered in this new era of harmony and understanding!

Cavs look good in Detroit as rookie adapts to leadership role

2011-12-29T19:00:00.000-05:00

Cavs look good in Detroit as rookieadapts to leadership role

A major key for the fortunes of this year’s Cleveland Cavalierswill be how quickly the rookie point guard Kyrie Irving learns the pro game.Thus, last night’s win over the host Detroit Pistons was a tonic for Cavalierfans, as Irving showed himself a fast learner.

Cavs’ color commentator Austin Carr was right on the money when hesaid that Irving needs to play his game at his speed, and let the rest of theteam follow. Irving began to do that last night and the result was exciting andpositively portentous, even if it was against the Pistons team that promises tobe sorry.

Black community activists host Jan. 5 debate in wide-open race for County Prosecutor

2011-12-29T18:01:00.002-05:00

Black community activists host Jan. 5debate in wide-open race for County Prosecutor

Six candidates expected toparticipate in most even race in sixty years

Voters in Cuyahoga County are about to have a once in a lifetimeopportunity to participate in the open selection of Cuyahoga County prosecutor.

Ever since the legendary — many would say infamous — John T. Corriganbegan the thirty-five year run that ended in 1991 and made him perhaps asfeared locally for the exercise of discretionary powers as FBI director J.Edgar Hoover was nationally, and for many of the same reasons, voters have beenfaced with insiders and incumbents.

This year, five men and one woman, mostly all well-qualified onpaper, are vying in the Democratic Party primary for a place on the Novemberballot. It’s a safe bet the March 6 primary winner will be the next countyprosecutor as no Republican filed to run before the deadline.

The Democratic candidates are former Cleveland law director SubodhChandra, who has been a federal prosecutor; police officer Stephanie Hall, whowas an assistant county prosecutor before resigning to run; Cleveland citycouncilman Kevin Kelley; former North Royalton city prosecutor James J.McDonnell; former Common Pleas judge Timothy McGinty; and former judge andCleveland law director Robert Triozzi.

All seek to succeed the incumbent prosecutor, Bill Mason, who usedhis political muscle to win the critical endorsement of the DemocraticExecutive Committee in the fight to succeed Stephanie Tubbs Jones after sheresigned to run for Congress in 1998. Once installed as the incumbent, Masonnever faced any opposition with the potential to oust him.

Three candidates — Chandra, Hall, and Triozzi — had confirmedtheir participation by the time the sponsoring coalition, headed by TheImperial Women and The Audacity of H.O.P.E. Foundation, issued its pressrelease on Tuesday. The Real Deal contacted the other three candidates —Kelley, McDonnell and McGinty — yesterday, with each confirming theirexpectation to participate, although a couple had reservations due either toscheduling conflicts or concerns about one of the sponsors.

The debate program will start at 5:30pm on Thursday, January 5,2012. It will be held at the Lil’ Africa Party Center, 6816 Superior Ave.,symbolically located in the heart of the inner city.

Cleveland Ward 7 councilman T. J. Dow, a former assistant countyprosecutor, will moderate the debate. A community panel including Ward 8councilman Jeff Johnson, attorney Michael Nelson Sr., Cleveland Jobs WithJustice executive director Debbie Kline, and Art McKoy, will pose questions tothe candidates. One intriguing aspect of the debate is that two of thepanelists — are formerly incarcerated persons.

The public will be invited to ask questions during a 30-minuteperiod following an hour of questions from the panel.

Sponsoring organizations include Occupy Cleveland, Occupy the Hood, TheCleveland chapter of the New Black Panther Party, Peace in the Hood, andCleveland Urban News.

Contactsfor the event are: Executive Director Frances Caldwell[Cleveland African-American Museum, 216-421-0929];Kathy Wray Coleman [Imperial WomenCoalition Leader, 216-932-3114];and Griot Y-Von [Audacity of H.O.P.E. Foundation, 216-355-3374].

Quote for today

2011-12-27T16:27:00.001-05:00

We would worry less about what others think of us if we realized how seldom they do. — Ethel Barrett

New Era for Cavs Starts Tonight

2011-12-26T17:11:00.000-05:00

Iam working on a follow-up to several pieces I have written over the past coupleof months about leadership and Cleveland’s black community. I won’t have timeto post it before the Cavs play their season opener tonight but I do want tolay my prognostication out there:

TheCavs will win between 26 and 28 games in this abbreviated season. Top pickKyrie Irving should be Rookie of the Year.

Theteam will play an entertaining brand of ball, hustling and defending for a full48 minutes a night. The rotation will feature ten players and the team’s youthand depth will make them an undesirable foe against the older, less-than-stellaropponents they encounter on back-to-back nights.

I expect the Heat will win it all this year but I would be delighted to see them fail. If they don’t, it’s likely because the Bullsstopped them in the Eastern Conference finals. If the Heat don’t break throughthis season, then the rash promise by Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert to bring homea title before you know who gets his first will begin to seem like a worthwhilebet.

Promises: The Cavaliers

2011-12-22T14:02:00.000-05:00

I am looking forward to the short 2011-12 Cavaliers season. I watched enough of the two exhibitions against the Detroit Pistons to think that this year's version of the Cavs will be interesting and fun to watch.

Every NBA team has plenty of talent. Talent differential between winners and losers is magnified by factors like player chemistry, coaching, leadership and organizational culture.

Among Cleveland's lousy sports teams, the Cavs have the highest quotient of these intangibles, along with ownership with the deepest pockets.

If somehow the Bulls can thwart the Heat for the next couple of seasons — a long shot to be sure — then Dan Gilbert's rash promise of winning a championship before he who shall not be named won't seem so much longer than walking out of his casinos a winner.

That said, I can't resist re-publishing the following article, which I received from my expatriate daughter [probably a Lakers' fan] just a few moments ago.

Kids In 'Scared-Straight' Program Visit Horrifying Cleveland Cavaliers Practice

02.11.11

CLEVELAND—As part of an effort to help at-risk youths turn their lives around before it's too late, organizers of a local "scared-straight" program exposed a group of at-risk teens to the horrors of a Cleveland Cavaliers practice Wednesday.
The 13- to 18-year-old juveniles—who were enrolled in the program by concerned family members or teachers hoping to show them the possible consequences of delinquent behavior—endured a long and painful day at the Cavaliers' training facility. While there, they were subjected to the same environment of hopelessness and despair the Cavaliers face every day and were forced to watch the NBA's worst team attempt layup drills, run the most basic offensive plays, and play a full-court scrimmage.
"I don't want to ruin my life and end up someplace like this," a visibly shaken 13-year-old Calvin Roberts said after witnessing three straight hours of poor ball-handling skills and terrible shooting. "It was the worst thing I've ever seen. I can't imagine going through day after day of that. All I could think about was apologizing to my parents for being such a jerk all the time."
Cleveland Scared Straight organizer Doug Whitney touted the program's ability to instill fear in teenagers by subjecting them to the sight of dejected Cavaliers who repeatedly miss free throws, turn the ball over during fast break drills, and look completely lost while working on their full-court press. Whitney believes that exposure to the 12 broken men responsible for the most atrocious losing-streak in NBA history has deterred countless teens from choosing the wrong path.
"Watching the Cavaliers practice—actually being right there up close, where you can see the anger and the desperation firsthand—is a really harsh experience for these kids," Whitney said. "But it makes a huge impact. All of them are ready to straighten up and fly right after they see the consequences of not even knowing which player is responsible for taking the ball out of bounds."
Whitney said that early on, some critics questioned whether the shock tactics were truly effective. Visiting teens often cried when the reality of their situation struck them, sometimes from the moment they were instructed to put on their mandatory Cleveland Cavaliers T-shirts. Many were nearly struck by the endless barrage of mishandled basketballs, and there were questions as to whether attending the Cavaliers practices put the youths at even greater risk than they had been before. But the vast majority of participants displayed improved behavior after seeing the fundamentally unsound losing path their lives could take them down.
"And in those rare cases where seeing a practice doesn't work, we take them to an actual Cavaliers game," said Whitney, explaining that it is a last resort used only with teens who are hardest to reach. "By the end of the first quarter, even the toughest kids are begging to leave and promising they'll never get into trouble again."
During Wednesday's practice, several players interacted with the teenagers, intimidating them with the bald truth of pitiful statistics and telling them horror stories about the team's dreadful season, including the time the Cavaliers were embarrassed on their home court by the Miami Heat.
"You want to end up like me?" said forward J.J. Hickson, screaming at the teens. "Broken down, hopeless, and barely able to complete a bounce pass without turning it over? Then you just keep living your life they way you have been. Look at this. This is you in 10 years."
"What are you laughing at?" added Hickson, staring directly at a snickering 14-year-old. "You think getting blown out by the f**king Toronto Raptors is funny? That's what I thought once. But this is some serious shit right here. I wish this life on no man."
While the teenagers attempted to present a tough exterior as they listened to the Cavaliers talk about how they turned the ball over 17 times against the Detroit Pistons or how they were pathetically optimistic after almost beating the 22-28 Indiana Pacers, a majority of the troubled juveniles became so frightened that they ultimately burst into tears.
"When we first showed up, I told everybody I wasn't scared," said Eric Carter, 17, rubbing at his red eyes. "But after five minutes, all I could think about was going home and trying to improve my life. I'm definitely better than something awful like this. Hell, my brothers and I run a better three-man weave than that."
"One time I visited a prison with Scared Straight," 15-year-old Clayton Jackson said. "But this is way worse. I'd rather be serving a life sentence in jail."
Tony Manuel, 16, said the intervention made him realize he needed to improve his attitude, avoid making poor decisions, and spend more time practicing his dribbling.
"Until you actually see these guys, you don't see what a waste it is," Manuel said. "And really, the only difference between them and me is that they can't move the ball up the court, get takeaways, rebound, or drive into the paint without dribbling the ball off their foot."
Cavaliers point guard Daniel Gibson told the gathered teenagers that they were lucky, saying that if he had participated in a scared-straight program as a youth, he would have stayed in school and might have actually made something of his life.
"You may think you have it bad," Gibson told the kids. "But come talk to me after you've been completely abandoned by your best player and left to fend for yourself. Come talk to me when you have no hope."
"No f**king hope at all," Gibson added, almost to himself.

http://mobile.onionsportsnetwork.com/articles/kids-in-scaredstraight-program-visit-horrifying-cl,19156/?mobile=true

Obama may be beneficiary of Turner-Fudge Contest

2011-12-16T16:05:00.000-05:00

I seldom agree with commentator John McWhorter, aconservative commentator who often seems insulated from an understanding of howrace actually works in this country. Buthis piece in the current issue of The NewRepublic, “Why Eric Holder’s Effort to Help Minority Voters Could Backfire”, raisessome solid questions that relate both to the ugly compromise* reached by Ohiostate legislators this week [* if it weren’t the holiday season, I would substitute "DemocraticParty capitulation”] and to the distressed argumentsraised by those who condemn out-of-hand the challenge to Congresswoman MarciaFudge D-11 in the Democratic primary, now certain to occur March 6.

McWhorter denouncesthe concerted national drive by Republicans to suppress black and brown votesin the name of reducing voter fraud for exactly what it is: a “brutallycynical effort … to instinctively seize political advantage by … trying tosuppress [black and brown] Americans’ right to vote in a fashion that is notonly utterly disgusting but revoltingly reminiscent of ” Jim Crow days.

McWhorter findspernicious the way that the Voting Rights Act has been used to encourage thedevelopment of majority-minority districts. Such districts, he argues, “discourageyoung black politicians from learning how to build cross-racial or cross-classcoalitions.” He goes on to note how most of the members of the CongressionalBlack Caucus owe their success to the sort of black districts that the Act hasbeen used to support, and that suchdistricts, in which mostly black people are led decade after decade by the sameblack person are ripe for voter apathy.

As noted, we are oftentroubled by McWhorter’s alternate-world analysis but he has put his finger on acouple of significant issues here.

Regardless of theoutcome of state senator Nina Turner’s challenge to the Hon. Marcia Fudge, ifit results in energizing the dormant electorate of the 11^thDistrict, Turner will have enhanced President Obama’s reelection chances byincreasing the likelihood that he carries Ohio.

• • •

We have been asked toencourage our readers to attend today’s Young Professional Town Hall withCounty Executive FitzGerald at Cleveland State University's Student CenterBallroom.

The event startsat 6:00 p.m. and will feature remarks to the young professional community inCuyahoga County, as well as the opportunity for young professionals to answerquestions directly to County Executive FitzGerald at the event, or prior to theevent on Twitter via the hashtag #AskFitz.

There is more infoavailable here.

A Different Kind of "Giant Sucking Sound"

2011-12-15T15:57:00.000-05:00

Note:Nonprofit Thursdays will resume in January.

Iattended the Cleveland Realtists Association’s holiday party this past Tuesday at The Opus, an MBErestaurant on Chagrin Boulevard. Spirits were high and the place was packed.

TheRealtists’ history date to a time when black real estate agents and brokerswere barred from membership in the larger professional organization now knownas the Cleveland Area Board of Realtors. If memory serves, the segregation wasonce so thorough that blacks in real estate couldn’t even call themselvesrealtors because the dominant group copyrighted the term.

Thiskind of history rests at the bottom of so much of what we see today in ournon-post-racial society. The black community is full of organizations thatshadow those larger professional organizations that excluded black members as amatter of course. The use of “American” in the titles of these majorityorganizations as a matter of course is why so many black organizations chose“National” as part of their identity: National Bar Association, NationalMedical Association, National Association of Real Estate Brokers, etc.

Whilethis kind of in-your-face exclusion is no longer the norm, many AfricanAmericans still support these mirror groups. When I asked my agent friend “J”if she were a dues-paying Realtist member, she stressed that while she belongedto all the major agent groups, her Realtist ties “keep me grounded”.

Jis an agent at one of the area’s major brokerages but I knew exactly what shemeant. One of the key ingredients in Cleveland’s historic standing as one ofthe country’s most-segregated cities has been the structure, operation andpractice of real estate professionals. The patterns and practices of the bigfirms have both contributed to and reflected the wealth disparity between theraces in our community.

Mykey takeaway from my conversation with J was only indirectly related to race,however. It was her intriguing response to my asking how business was going.

Jsaid that 2011 had been much better than 2010 [“Thank Goodness!”] and that one ofthe best aspects of that improvement was how sales had improved in the innercity. She believes that a strong central city real estate market is critical tothe recovery and health of county property values in general. She cited SanFrancisco and New York as examples.

Ofcourse, those areas are net attractors of people, something that hasn’t beentrue in decades around these parts. Still, it makes sense that inner cityreinvestment is essential to Cuyahoga revival.

Itis unarguable is that the meltdown of property values in areas targeted bysubprime vultures — Slavic Village, East Cleveland, Maple Heights to namea few — harmed the entire county at least twofold: not only did pretty mucheverybody’s property values decrease, but lost revenues from abandoned homeshas caused city and county revenues to decline even as demand for publicservices has increased.

Asconservatives continue to espouse discredited ‘trickle-down” theories, perhapsthey ought to school themselves on the effects of “economic contagion” that area predictable result of robber baron economics.

Ifa rising tide lifts all boats, doesn’t a fierce undertow jeopardize at least99% of them?

Asone of my Asian correspondents asked me this morning in a phone conversation:why isn’t Jon Corzine in jail related to his inability to account for $1.2 billion in missing client funds [video]? And if you think that's where the former Governor-Senator-Wall Street funds trader should be, then why shouldn't the principals of the giant financial institutions who stole far more from the rest of us?

Fudge-Turner: What’s Really at Stake?

2011-12-13T11:52:00.000-05:00

I start thispost fresh from my unannounced but necessary pre-holiday hiatus with renewedenergy and a heightened sense of urgency. Real Deal readers should rest assuredthat even when output slows, inputs continue unabated. It is my hope thatoccasional time off heralds a sharper perspective upon my return. But you, RealDeal followers, are the ultimate judge of that.

I beganblogging in earnest back in November 2009. I had become by turns disheartened,perplexed and finally aroused by the failure of the county Democratic Party toact with swift resolve to denounce and remove Jimmy Dimora and Frank Russo fromparty positions which made the whole party a convenient piñata for pundits andRepublicans.

So I got offmy proverbial couch and started going to various Democratic Party functions,asking questions and looking for answers. I visited offices of various electedofficials, county and city of Cleveland. And I tracked down and got involved inwith a random group of party activists who eventually evolved into an effectivebut short-lived caucus under the banner Cuyahoga Democrats for PrincipledLeadership.

[Columninterlude: last week evidence of reform was on public display at the countyDemocrats’ Executive Committee meeting at Music Hall. Not every incumbent wasunchallenged, one — Juvenile Court Judge Joseph F. Russo saw his opponentendorsed — and party chair Stuart Garson suffered with good humor when the willof the body contradicted his own preference for an measured and orderlyprocess.]

Looking at CuyahogaCounty politics of course requires an examination of black politics, unless yourestrict yourself to local Republicans, all of whose significant black playerscould fit inside a nice-sized powder room.

And when youlook at local black politics, you see problems. Big-time problems.Disorganization. Disunity. Disconnectedness. Ineffectiveness. PerpetualReaction Mode. All of this forms the backdrop for the most exciting politicaldevelopment in the black community in twenty years [Mike White-George Forbesface-off in Cleveland’s 1989 mayoral election.]

By excitingpolitical development I refer of course to Nina Turner’s Democratic primarychallenge to Marcia Fudge’s bid for a third Congressional term.

Let me stateclearly on the record that if the election were held today, I am uncertainwhich of these public servants would get my vote. I am neither anti- one orpro- the other. I am pro-Cleveland, pro-Cuyahoga County, and pro-AfricanAmerican community. I am anti-entitlement and anti-establishment where eithermeans the status quo.

My esteemedfriend Dick Peery articulated a view in this forum early this month in acomment to my post on Fudge’s then-pending reelection announcement. I don’tknow the habits of Real Deal readers with respect to readingcomments. [I do know that I lovethem, read every one, answer virtually all of them, and wish there were more! Iknow that not everyone has the time or energy to state a reasoned view; I doknow that we need a space for intelligent exchange of community views, and thatremains for me a constant goal.]

Dick’sthoughts always merit consideration and response. I didn’t answer them in acomment to his comment because I was concerned that the exchange would be outof eyesight for too many readers. In essence he said that an incumbent’schallenger needs to articulate why she would do a better job and why change isnecessary.

Lou Stokesbecame the most important black elected official in Ohio once his brother leftCleveland City Hall in 1971. He established an enviable record in Congressthanks to his skill, his seniority, his party’s majority status, and his placeon the Appropriations Committee. He brought bacon home to a community in direneed of it. All of Cleveland respects him, and pretty much all of blackCleveland loves him.

As a pioneerCongressman from a unique urban area, Stokes achieved practically withouteffort a sort of godfather political status. He didn’t really have a politicalmachine, so to speak, but then he didn’t need one, since he had practically noserious local challenger once he got in office. Some might say the 21^st[now 11^th] District Caucus that he and his brother establishedfunctioned as his political machine. Truth is, the Caucus had already reachedits political apex by Stokes’ second term, thereafter coasting on itsreputation for decades as its power and relevance steadily declined.

Lou Stokes,George Forbes and Arnold Pinkney today stand as rusty ornaments of a time whenCleveland’s black political power was respected for its ability to deliver. Buta Lou Stokes-George Forbes power struggle in 1972 was precursor to the eventualdeparture of Forbes and Pinkney from the Caucus, leaving the Congressman incontrol of what was increasingly only a symbol of black political power.

The politicalscientist William Nelson has observed that the decline of the caucus in theaftermath of [Carl] Stokes’ departure from local politics “changed thefundamental goal of black politics from community uplift toself-aggrandizement.”

Nelson’sobservation gets to the crux of the matter. What kind of leadership does theblack community seek? Can we move from personalities and personal agendas andpolitical fiefdoms to public policies? Answers to these questions have beenwanting for forty years. Indeed, the questions don’t even get asked.

We applaudthe upcoming Congressional primary as an opportunity to gain a hearing forthese questions.

Let’s stopthe bogus talk about dividing and weakening a black community that is alreadylaughably and lamentably weak and divided.

Let’s talkinstead about why our schools produce such poor results [and about themiraculous results some of our students produce nonetheless]. Let’s talk about why residents in inner city zip codes have a life expectancy so much shorter than their suburban counterparts just minutes away. Let’s talk about addressing the cyclone effects ofpredatory lending and how we can rebuild our communities. Let’s talk about theabsence of jobs in our community and why with six billion dollars or more inmajor construction activity in Greater Cleveland, black contractors are stillfighting for crumbs.

CongresswomanFudge, State Senator Turner: what strategies do you have for us? Which of youis better equipped to help us rebuild our community?

• • •

Reminder:your scribe is a guest on The Civic Commons radio show today at 12:30PM on WJCU-FM 88.7.Tune in or catch it online either here or via iTunes.

Your President on American inequality

2011-12-07T14:00:00.001-05:00

I’ve just come from taping a Civic Commons conversation thismorning. The discussion, guided by the superb skills of host Dan Moulthrop,and abetted by the always interesting Noelle Celeste,centered on thisyear’s regional news stories and issues of particular interest, importance,intrigue, insanity, irritation, idiocy, etc.

One of those issues capturing myattention this year is the nation’s growing inequality of wealth and income.Judging from the speech President Obama gave yesterday, he is close to findingan effective way to talk about it that doesn’t allow opponents to robo-rant“class warfare”.

The text of the President’s talk inOsawatomie, Kansas is well worth a read as a primer on the issue. And pleasetune in to the show next Tuesday at 12:30PM over at WJCU-FM 88.7 or catch it online either here or via iTunes.

TEXT OF THE PRESIDENT'S SPEECH:

Good afternoon. I want to start by thanking a few of the folkswho’ve joined us today. We’ve got the mayor of Osawatomie, Phil Dudley; yoursuperintendent, Gary French; the principal of Osawatomie High, Doug Chisam. AndI’ve brought your former governor, who’s now doing an outstanding job as ourSecretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius.

It is great to be back in the state of Kansas. As many of youknow, I’ve got roots here. I’m sure you’re all familiar with the Obamas ofOsawatomie. Actually, I like to say that I got my name from my father, but Igot my accent – and my values – from my mother. She was born in Wichita. Hermother grew up in Augusta. And her father was from El Dorado. So my Kansasroots run deep.

My grandparents served during World War II — he as a soldier inPatton’s Army, she as a worker on a bomber assembly line. Together, they sharedthe optimism of a nation that triumphed over a Depression and fascism. Theybelieved in an America where hard work paid off, responsibility was rewarded,and anyone could make it if they tried — no matter who you were, where you camefrom, or how you started out.

These values gave rise to the largest middle class and thestrongest economy the world has ever known. It was here, in America, that themost productive workers and innovative companies turned out the best productson Earth, and every American shared in that pride and success — from those inexecutive suites to middle management to those on the factory floor. If yougave it your all, you’d take enough home to raise your family, send your kidsto school, have your health care covered, and put a little away for retirement.

Today, we are still home to the world’s most productive workersand innovative companies. But for most Americans, the basic bargain that madethis country great has eroded. Long before the recession hit, hard work stoppedpaying off for too many people. Fewer and fewer of the folks who contributed tothe success of our economy actually benefitted from that success. Those at thevery top grew wealthier from their incomes and investments than ever before.But everyone else struggled with costs that were growing and paychecks thatweren’t – and too many families found themselves racking up more and more debtjust to keep up.

For many years, credit cards and home equity loans papered overthe harsh realities of this new economy. But in 2008, the house of cardscollapsed. We all know the story by now: Mortgages sold to people who couldn’tafford them, or sometimes even understand them. Banks and investors allowed tokeep packaging the risk and selling it off. Huge bets – and huge bonuses – madewith other people’s money on the line. Regulators who were supposed to warn usabout the dangers of all this, but looked the other way or didn’t have theauthority to look at all.

It was wrong. It combined the breathtaking greed of a few withirresponsibility across the system. And it plunged our economy and the worldinto a crisis from which we are still fighting to recover. It claimed the jobs,homes, and the basic security of millions – innocent, hard-working Americanswho had met their responsibilities, but were still left holding the bag.

Ever since, there has been a raging debate over the best way torestore growth and prosperity; balance and fairness. Throughout the country, ithas sparked protests and political movements – from the Tea Party to the peoplewho have been occupying the streets of New York and other cities. It’s leftWashington in a near-constant state of gridlock. And it’s been the topic ofheated and sometimes colorful discussion among the men and women who arerunning for president.

But this isn’t just another political debate. This is the definingissue of our time. This is a make or break moment for the middle class, and allthose who are fighting to get into the middle class. At stake is whether thiswill be a country where working people can earn enough to raise a family, builda modest savings, own a home, and secure their retirement.

Now, in the midst of this debate, there are some who seem to besuffering from a kind of collective amnesia. After all that’s happened, afterthe worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, they want to return tothe same practices that got us into this mess. In fact, they want to go back tothe same policies that have stacked the deck against middle-class Americans fortoo many years. Their philosophy is simple: we are better off when everyone isleft to fend for themselves and play by their own rules.

Well, I’m here to say they are wrong. I’m here to reaffirm my deepconviction that we are greater together than we are on our own. I believe thatthis country succeeds when everyone gets a fair shot, when everyone does theirfair share, and when everyone plays by the same rules. Those aren’t Democraticor Republican values; 1% values or 99% values. They’re American values, and wehave to reclaim them.

You see, this isn’t the first time America has faced this choice.At the turn of the last century, when a nation of farmers was transitioning tobecome the world’s industrial giant, we had to decide: would we settle for acountry where most of the new railroads and factories were controlled by a fewgiant monopolies that kept prices high and wages low? Would we allow ourcitizens and even our children to work ungodly hours in conditions that wereunsafe and unsanitary? Would we restrict education to the privileged few?Because some people thought massive inequality and exploitation was just theprice of progress.

Theodore Roosevelt disagreed. He was the Republican son of awealthy family. He praised what the titans of industry had done to create jobsand grow the economy. He believed then what we know is true today: that thefree market is the greatest force for economic progress in human history. It’sled to a prosperity and standard of living unmatched by the rest of the world.

But Roosevelt also knew that the free market has never been a freelicense to take whatever you want from whoever you can. It only works whenthere are rules of the road to ensure that competition is fair, open, andhonest. And so he busted up monopolies, forcing those companies to compete forcustomers with better services and better prices. And today, they still must.He fought to make sure businesses couldn’t profit by exploiting children, orselling food or medicine that wasn’t safe. And today, they still can’t.

In 1910, Teddy Roosevelt came here, to Osawatomie, and laid outhis vision for what he called a New Nationalism. “Our country,” he said,“…means nothing unless it means the triumph of a real democracy…of an economicsystem under which each man shall be guaranteed the opportunity to show thebest that there is in him.”

For this, Roosevelt was called a radical, a socialist, even acommunist. But today, we are a richer nation and a stronger democracy becauseof what he fought for in his last campaign: an eight hour work day and aminimum wage for women; insurance for the unemployed, the elderly, and thosewith disabilities; political reform and a progressive income tax.

Today, over one hundred years later, our economy has gone throughanother transformation. Over the last few decades, huge advances in technologyhave allowed businesses to do more with less, and made it easier for them toset up shop and hire workers anywhere in the world. And many of you knowfirsthand the painful disruptions this has caused for a lot of Americans.

Factories where people thought they would retire suddenly pickedup and went overseas, where the workers were cheaper. Steel mills that needed1,000 employees are now able to do the same work with 100, so that layoffs weretoo often permanent, not just a temporary part of the business cycle. Thesechanges didn’t just affect blue-collar workers. If you were a bank teller or aphone operator or a travel agent, you saw many in your profession replaced byATMs or the internet. Today, even higher-skilled jobs like accountants andmiddle management can be outsourced to countries like China and India. And ifyou’re someone whose job can be done cheaper by a computer or someone inanother country, you don’t have a lot of leverage with your employer when itcomes to asking for better wages and benefits – especially since fewerAmericans today are part of a union.

Now, just as there was in Teddy Roosevelt’s time, there’s been acertain crowd in Washington for the last few decades who respond to thiseconomic challenge with the same old tune. “The market will take care ofeverything,” they tell us. If only we cut more regulations and cut more taxes –especially for the wealthy – our economy will grow stronger. Sure, there willbe winners and losers. But if the winners do really well, jobs and prosperitywill eventually trickle down to everyone else. And even if prosperity doesn’ttrickle down, they argue, that’s the price of liberty.

It’s a simple theory – one that speaks to our rugged individualismand healthy skepticism of too much government. It fits well on a bumpersticker. Here’s the problem: It doesn’t work. It’s never worked. It didn’t workwhen it was tried in the decade before the Great Depression. It’s not what ledto the incredible post-war boom of the 50s and 60s. And it didn’t work when wetried it during the last decade.

Remember that in those years, in 2001 and 2003, Congress passedtwo of the most expensive tax cuts for the wealthy in history, and what didthey get us? The slowest job growth in half a century. Massive deficits thathave made it much harder to pay for the investments that built this country andprovided the basic security that helped millions of Americans reach and stay inthe middle class – things like education and infrastructure; science andtechnology; Medicare and Social Security.

Remember that in those years, thanks to some of the same folks whoare running Congress now, we had weak regulation and little oversight, and whatdid that get us? Insurance companies that jacked up people’s premiums withimpunity, and denied care to the patients who were sick. Mortgage lenders thattricked families into buying homes they couldn’t afford. A financial sectorwhere irresponsibility and lack of basic oversight nearly destroyed our entireeconomy.

We simply cannot return to this brand of your-on-your-owneconomics if we’re serious about rebuilding the middle class in this country.We know that it doesn’t result in a strong economy. It results in an economythat invests too little in its people and its future. It doesn’t result in aprosperity that trickles down. It results in a prosperity that’s enjoyed byfewer and fewer of our citizens.

Look at the statistics. In the last few decades, the averageincome of the top one percent has gone up by more than 250%, to $1.2 millionper year. For the top one hundredth of one percent, the average income is now$27 million per year. The typical CEO who used to earn about 30 times more thanhis or her workers now earns 110 times more. And yet, over the last decade, theincomes of most Americans have actually fallen by about six percent.

This kind of inequality – a level we haven’t seen since the GreatDepression – hurts us all. When middle-class families can no longer afford tobuy the goods and services that businesses are selling, it drags down theentire economy, from top to bottom. America was built on the idea ofbroad-based prosperity – that’s why a CEO like Henry Ford made it his missionto pay his workers enough so that they could buy the cars they made. It’s alsowhy a recent study showed that countries with less inequality tend to havestronger and steadier economic growth over the long run.

Inequality also distorts our democracy. It gives an outsized voiceto the few who can afford high-priced lobbyists and unlimited campaigncontributions, and runs the risk of selling out our democracy to the highestbidder. And it leaves everyone else rightly suspicious that the system inWashington is rigged against them – that our elected representatives aren’tlooking out for the interests of most Americans.

More fundamentally, this kind of gaping inequality gives lie tothe promise at the very heart of America: that this is the place where you canmake it if you try. We tell people that in this country, even if you’re bornwith nothing, hard work can get you into the middle class; and that yourchildren will have the chance to do even better than you. That’s why immigrantsfrom around the world flocked to our shores.

And yet, over the last few decades, the rungs on the ladder ofopportunity have grown farther and farther apart, and the middle class hasshrunk. A few years after World War II, a child who was born into poverty had aslightly better than 50-50 chance of becoming middle class as an adult. By1980, that chance fell to around 40%. And if the trend of rising inequalityover the last few decades continues, it’s estimated that a child born todaywill only have a 1 in 3 chance of making it to the middle class.

It’s heartbreaking enough that there are millions of workingfamilies in this country who are now forced to take their children to foodbanks for a decent meal. But the idea that those children might not have achance to climb out of that situation and back into the middle class, no matterhow hard they work? That’s inexcusable. It’s wrong. It flies in the face ofeverything we stand for.

Fortunately, that’s not a future we have to accept. Becausethere’s another view about how we build a strong middle class in this country –a view that’s truer to our history; a vision that’s been embraced by people ofboth parties for more than two hundred years.

It’s not a view that we should somehow turn back technology or putup walls around America. It’s not a view that says we should punish profit orsuccess or pretend that government knows how to fix all society’s problems.It’s a view that says in America, we are greater together – when everyoneengages in fair play, everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fairshare.

So what does that mean for restoring middle-class security intoday’s economy?

It starts by making sure that everyone in America gets a fair shotat success. The truth is, we’ll never be able to compete with other countrieswhen it comes to who’s best at letting their businesses pay the lowest wages orpollute as much as they want. That’s a race to the bottom that we can’t win –and shouldn’t want to win. Those countries don’t have a strong middle-class.They don’t have our standard of living.

The race we want to win – the race we can win – is a race to thetop; the race for good jobs that pay well and offer middle-class security.Businesses will create those jobs in countries with the highest-skilled,highest-educated workers; the most advanced transportation and communication;the strongest commitment to research and technology.

The world is shifting to an innovation economy. And no one doesinnovation better than America. No one has better colleges and universities. Noone has a greater diversity of talent and ingenuity. No one’s workers orentrepreneurs are more driven or daring. The things that have always been ourstrengths match up perfectly with the demands of this moment.

But we need to meet the moment. We need to up our game. And weneed to remember that we can only do that together.

It starts by making education a national mission – government andbusinesses; parents and citizens. In this economy, a higher education is thesurest route to the middle class. The unemployment rate for Americans with acollege degree or more is about half the national average. Their income istwice as high as those who don’t have a high school diploma. We shouldn’t belaying off good teachers right now – we should be hiring them. We shouldn’t beexpecting less of our schools – we should be demanding more. We shouldn’t bemaking it harder to afford college – we should be a country where everyone hasthe chance to go.

In today’s innovation economy, we also need a world-class commitmentto science, research, and the next generation of high-tech manufacturing. Ourfactories and their workers shouldn’t be idle. We should be giving people thechance to get new skills and training at community colleges, so they can learnto make wind turbines and semiconductors and high-powered batteries. And by theway – if we don’t have an economy built on bubbles and financial speculation,our best and brightest won’t all gravitate towards careers in banking andfinance. Because if we want an economy that’s built to last, we need more ofthose young people in science and engineering. This country shouldn’t be knownfor bad debt and phony profits. We should be known for creating and sellingproducts all over the world that are stamped with three proud words: Made inAmerica.

Today, manufacturers and other companies are setting up shop inplaces with the best infrastructure to ship their products, move their workers,and communicate with the rest of the world. That’s why the over one millionconstruction workers who lost their jobs when the housing market collapsedshouldn’t be sitting at home with nothing to do. They should be rebuilding ourroads and bridges; laying down faster railroads and broadband; modernizing ourschools – all the things other countries are already doing to attract good jobsand businesses to their shores.

Yes, businesses, not government, will always be the primarygenerator of good jobs with incomes that lift people into the middle class andkeep them there. But as a nation, we have always come together, through ourgovernment, to help create the conditions where both workers and businesses cansucceed. Historically, that hasn’t been a partisan idea. Franklin Rooseveltworked with Democrats and Republicans to give veterans of World War II,including my grandfather, the chance to go to college on the GI Bill. It wasRepublican President Dwight Eisenhower, a proud son of Kansas, who started theinterstate highway system and doubled-down on science and research to stayahead of the Soviets.

Of course, those productive investments cost money. And so we’vealso paid for these investments by asking everyone to do their fair share. Ifwe had unlimited resources, no one would ever have to pay any taxes and we’dnever have to cut any spending. But we don’t have unlimited resources. And sowe have to set priorities. If we want a strong middle class, then our tax codemust reflect our values. We have to make choices.

Today that choice is very clear. To reduce our deficit, I’vealready signed nearly $1 trillion of spending cuts into law, and proposedtrillions more – including reforms that would lower the cost of Medicare andMedicaid.

But in order to actually close the deficit and get our fiscalhouse in order, we have to decide what our priorities are. Most immediately, weneed to extend a payroll tax cut that’s set to expire at the end of this month.If we don’t do that, 160 million Americans will see their taxes go up by anaverage of $1,000, and it would badly weaken our recovery.

But in the long term, we have to rethink our tax system morefundamentally. We have to ask ourselves: Do we want to make the investments weneed in things like education, and research, and high-tech manufacturing? Or dowe want to keep in place the tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans in ourcountry? Because we can’t afford to do both. That’s not politics. That’s justmath.

So far, most of the Republicans in Washington have refused, underany circumstances, to ask the wealthiest Americans to go the same tax rates theywere paying when Bill Clinton was president.

Now, keep in mind, when President Clinton first proposed these taxincreases, folks in Congress predicted they would kill jobs and lead to anotherrecession. Instead, our economy created nearly 23 million jobs and weeliminated the deficit. Today, the wealthiest Americans are paying the lowesttaxes in over half a century. This isn’t like in the early 50s, when the toptax rate was over 90%. This isn’t even like the early 80s, when it was about70%. Under President Clinton, the top rate was only about 39%. Today, thanks toloopholes and shelters, a quarter of all millionaires now pay lower tax ratesthan you, millions of middle-class households. Some billionaires have a taxrate as low as 1%. One percent.

This is the height of unfairness. It is wrong that in the UnitedStates of America, a teacher or a nurse or a construction worker who earns$50,000 should pay a higher tax rate than somebody pulling in $50 million. Itis wrong for Warren Buffett’s secretary to pay a higher tax rate than WarrenBuffett. And he agrees with me. So do most Americans – Democrats, Independents,and Republicans. And I know that many of our wealthiest citizens would agree tocontribute a little more if it meant reducing the deficit and strengthening theeconomy that made their success possible.

This isn’t about class warfare. This is about the nation’swelfare. It’s about making choices that benefit not just the people who’ve donefantastically well over the last few decades, but that benefits the middleclass, and those fighting to get to the middle class, and the economy as awhole.

Finally, a strong middle class can only exist in an economy whereeveryone plays by the same rules, from Wall Street to Main Street. Asinfuriating as it was for all of us, we rescued our major banks from collapse,not only because a full blown financial meltdown would have sent us into asecond Depression, but because we need a strong, healthy financial sector inthis country.

But part of the deal was that we would not go back to business asusual. That’s why last year we put in place new rules of the road that refocusthe financial sector on this core purpose: getting capital to the entrepreneurswith the best ideas, and financing to millions of families who want to buy ahome or send their kids to college. We’re not all the way there yet, and thebanks are fighting us every inch of the way. But already, some of these reformsare being implemented. If you’re a big bank or risky financial institution,you’ll have to write out a “living will” that details exactly how you’ll paythe bills if you fail, so that taxpayers are never again on the hook for WallStreet’s mistakes. There are also limits on the size of banks and new abilitiesfor regulators to dismantle a firm that goes under. The new law bans banks frommaking risky bets with their customers’ deposits, and takes away big bonusesand paydays from failed CEOs, while giving shareholders a say on executivesalaries.

All that is being put in place as we speak. Now, unless you’re afinancial institution whose business model is built on breaking the law,cheating consumers, or making risky bets that could damage the entire economy,you have nothing to fear from these new rules. My grandmother worked as abanker for most of her life, and I know that the vast majority of bankers andfinancial service professionals want to do right by their customers. They wantto have rules in place that don’t put them at a disadvantage for doing theright thing. And yet, Republicans in Congress are already fighting as hard asthey can to make sure these rules aren’t enforced.

I’ll give you one example. For the first time in history, thereform we passed puts in place a consumer watchdog who is charged withprotecting everyday Americans from being taken advantage of by mortgagelenders, payday lenders or debt collectors. The man we nominated for the post,Richard Cordray, is a former Attorney General of Ohio who has the support ofmost Attorneys General, both Democrat and Republican, throughout the country.

But the Republicans in the Senate refuse to let him do his job.Why? Does anyone here think the problem that led to our financial crisis wastoo much oversight of mortgage lenders or debt collectors? Of course not. Everyday we go without a consumer watchdog in place is another day when a student,or a senior citizen, or member of our Armed Forces could be tricked into a loanthey can’t afford – something that happens all the time. Financial institutionshave plenty of lobbyists looking out for their interests. Consumers deserve tohave someone whose job it is to look out for them. I intend to make sure theydo, and I will veto any effort to delay, defund, or dismantle the new rules weput in place.

We shouldn’t be weakening oversight and accountability. We shouldbe strengthening them. Here’s another example. Too often, we’ve seen WallStreet firms violating major anti-fraud laws because the penalties are too weakand there’s no price for being a repeat offender. No more. I’ll be calling forlegislation that makes these penalties count – so that firms don’t seepunishment for breaking the law as just the price of doing business.

The fact is, this crisis has left a deficit of trust between MainStreet and Wall Street. And major banks that were rescued by the taxpayers havean obligation to go the extra mile in helping to close that deficit. Atminimum, they should be remedying past mortgage abuses that led to thefinancial crisis, and working to keep responsible homeowners in their home.We’re going to keep pushing them to provide more time for unemployed homeownersto look for work without having to worry about immediately losing their house.The big banks should increase access to refinancing opportunities to borrowerswho have yet to benefit from historically low interest rates. And they shouldrecognize that precisely because these steps are in the interest ofmiddle-class families and the broader economy, they will also be in the banks’own long-term financial interest.

Investing in things like education that give everybody a chance tosucceed. A tax code that makes sure everybody pays their fair share. And lawsthat make sure everybody follows the rules. That’s what will transform oureconomy. That’s what will grow our middle class again. In the end, rebuildingthis economy based on fair play, a fair shot, and a fair share will require allof us to see the stake we have in each other’s success. And it will require allof us to take some responsibility to that success.

It will require parents to get more involved in their children’seducation, students to study harder, and some workers to start studying allover again. It will require greater responsibility from homeowners to not takeout mortgages they can’t afford, and remember that if something seems too goodto be true, it probably is.

It will require those of us in public service to make governmentmore efficient, effective, and responsive to people’s needs. That’s why we’recutting programs we don’t need, to pay for those we do. That’s why we’ve madehundreds of regulatory reforms that will save businesses billions of dollars.That’s why we’re not just throwing money at education, but challenging schoolsto come up with the most innovative reforms and the best results.

And it will require American business leaders to understand thattheir obligations don’t just end with their shareholders. Andy Grove, theformer CEO of Intel put it best: “There’s another obligation I feelpersonally,” he said, “given that everything I’ve achieved in my career and alot of what Intel has achieved…were made possible by a climate of democracy, aneconomic climate and investment climate provided by…the United States.”

This broader obligation can take different forms. At a time whenthe cost of hiring workers in China is rising rapidly, it should mean more CEOsdeciding that it’s time to bring jobs back to the United States – not justbecause it’s good for business, but because it’s good for the country that madetheir business and their personal success possible.

I think about the Big Three Auto companies who, during recentnegotiations, agreed to create more jobs and cars in America; who decided togive bonuses, not just to their executives, but to all their employees – sothat everyone was invested in the company’s success.

I think about a company based in Warroad, Minnesota called MarvinWindows and Doors. During the recession, Marvin’s competitors closed dozens ofplants and let go hundreds of workers. But Marvin didn’t lay off a single oneof their four thousand or so employees. In fact, they’ve only laid off workersonce in over a hundred years. Mr. Marvin’s grandfather even kept his eightemployees during the Depression.

When times get tough, the workers agree to give up some perks andpay, and so do the owners. As one owner said, “You can’t grow if you’re cuttingyour lifeblood – and that’s the skills and experience your workforce delivers.”For the CEO, it’s about the community: “These are people we went to schoolwith,” he said. “We go to church with them. We see them in the same restaurant.Indeed, a lot of us have married local girls and boys. We could be anywhere.But we are in Warroad.”

That’s how America was built. That’s why we’re the greatest nationon Earth. That’s what our greatest companies understand. Our success has neverjust been about survival of the fittest. It’s been about building a nationwhere we’re all better off. We pull together, we pitch in, and we do our part,believing that hard work will pay off; that responsibility will be rewarded;and that our children will inherit a nation where those values live on.

And it is that belief that rallied thousands of Americans toOsawatomie – maybe even some of your ancestors – on a rain-soaked day more thana century ago. By train, by wagon, on buggy, bicycle, onfoot, they came to hearthe vision of a man who loved this country, and was determined to perfect it.

“We are all Americans,” Teddy Roosevelt told them that day. “Ourcommon interests are as broad as the continent.” In the final years of hislife, Roosevelt took that same message all across this country, from tinyOsawatomie to the heart of New York City, believing that no matter where hewent, or who he was talking to, all would benefit from a country in whicheveryone gets a fair chance.

Well into our third century as a nation, we have grown and changedin many ways since Roosevelt’s time. The world is faster. The playing field islarger. The challenges are more complex.

But what hasn’t changed – what can never change – are the values thatgot us this far. We still have a stake in each other’s success. We stillbelieve that this should be a place where you can make it if you try. And westill believe, in the words of the man who called for a New Nationalism allthose years ago, “The fundamental rule in our national life – the rule whichunderlies all others – is that, on the whole, and in the long run, we shall goup or down together.”

I believe America is on its way up. Thank you, God bless you, andmay God bless the United States of America.

Ohio Republicans: It's Not What They Say, It's What They Do

2011-12-04T14:28:00.001-05:00

If the Ohio Republican Party had theconfidence that a majority of Ohio citizens actually shared the GOP's oft-stated core values —reducing taxes, reducing and/or eliminating regulations on businesses,exploiting fossil fuel and repressing women — they shouldn’t feel theneed to rig Ohio’s Congressional districts in a way that guarantees them twelveseats no matter who the Democrats run.

In the early 1970s the Republicans held a clear edge nationally on the Democrats. Unsatisfied with their lead, they overreached with Watergate, subverting the Constitution, disgracing themselves, and losing control.

In Ohio, they are content to make Ohio citizens pay $15 million extra for a second primary. Perhaps the governor will provide the funds from education, or health care, or unemployment benefits.

Gayle Williams-Byers wins recount for South Euclid judgeship

2011-12-02T16:52:00.001-05:00

We missed the news at the time and maybe you did aswell. But good news is good news even when it arrives late. A Board ofElections recount brought Gayle Williams-Byers from second place on electionnight to winner of the South Euclid Municipal Court judgeship.

Williams was declared the winner Nov. 29 when the CuyahogaCounty Board of Elections announced its official vote totals.

Williams-Byers trailed City Prosecutor Mary Riley Casa by a2,519-to-2, 514 vote count as election night ended. On Nov. 29, the board ofelections had the final count as 2,573 for Riley Casa (34.46 percent), and2,624 for Williams-Byers (35.15 percent). The 51-vote difference is greater than .5-percent of the totalvotes cast in the election and thus does not trigger an automatic recount.

Williams-Byers, 37, has been an assistant Cuyahoga Countyprosecutor for the past nine years, where she oversees grand jury indictment process.

A graduate of Shaw High School in East Cleveland,Williams-Byers has three degrees from Case Western Reserve University,including her law degree and a master’s degree in nonprofit organizations.

She and her husband, Gregory, are the parents of a12-year-old son. Her father, Rev. Dr. Albert E. Williams,is pastor of Beulah Baptist Church in Cleveland.

Williamspreviously ran for domestic relations judge in the Democratic primary lastyear.

Fudge to declare on Monday; others weigh challenges; Ruth D. Clement passes

2011-12-02T09:44:00.001-05:00

CongresswomanMarcia Fudge will formally announce this Monday her intent to run forre-election as representative of Ohio’s 11^th Congressional Districtof Ohio. Fudge originally won election to the seat in a special electionin 2008 following the sudden death of Stephanie Tubbs Jones. She won electionto a full term that November and was re-elected two years later.

The currentfiling deadline for Congress in Ohio is next Wednesday, December 7. Six people havetaken out petitions to run in the Democratic primary that is now set for June.Others besides Fudge who pulled petitions but have yet to file: Angela Davis,Gerald Carver Henley Sr., Anthony Perry, and Isaac Powell.

State SenatorNina Turner of Cleveland, expected to be Fudge’s toughest opponent, filed torun on Monday. Some expected the new district, which extends south to include much of Akron's black community, to attract state representative Vernon Sykes, but that appears to have been a non-starter.

Fudge’s newsconference is scheduled for Monday at 10 am at Phil the Fire Restaurant, 3750Orange Place, Beachwood.

State and County Offices

Wednesday isalso the filing deadline for all state and county races, including the staterepresentative, judge, county council [Districts 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10], and countyprosecutor, where five candidates have pulled petitions to succeed incumbentBill Mason, who chose not to seek reelection.

Congressional remapping

Primaryelection day for all state and county races is March 7, 2011. If the OhioGeneral Assembly can agree on a redistricting plan in time — the Dayton Daily News reported yesterdaythat House Democratic leader Armond Budish of Beachwood claims a deal while theRepublicans say no deal has been struck — then the June federal primary may yetbe moved to March 7.

SAD NOTE

Ruth D. Clement diedyesterday. She was widow of Dr. Kenneth W. Clement, a key adviser to formerCleveland mayor Carl B. Stokes.

We did not see heroften but she was unfailingly one of the most gracious ladies we have everknown.

Survivors include herthree children, Michael, Lia, and Leslie.

Funeral will beSaturday, December 3 at 11AM at First Baptist Church, 3630 Fairmount Blvd.,Cleveland Heights. The family willreceive friends this evening from 6-8 PM at E.F. Boyd & Son Funeral Home,2165 East 89 St, following a Delta service.

Nonprofit Thursday: Choking the Pipeline

2011-12-01T01:28:00.001-05:00

The Consortium of African American Organizations announces the unveiling of its new website at www.caao.net. Take a look and let director Connie Atkins know what you think.

Choking the Pipeline

We take advantage of the fact that this month begins on a Thursday toinaugurate what may be a new tradition: using the first Thursday of the monthto focus on a specific local community nonprofit or issue.

Asa reminder, when we debuted Nonprofit Thursdays six weeks ago, we wereacknowledging the critical role nonprofit organizations play in civic,business, social, and of course, religious life, most especially in Cleveland’sblack community. We celebrated new executive leadership at three of the city’sprincipal black organizations: The Urban League, The United Black Fund, and theNAACP.

Atthe same time we alluded to the tendency of too many organizations in ourcommunity to marginalize themselves by recycling the same officers and boardmembers. This unhealthy practice has retarded the development of newleadership and fresh ideas in the black community for at least forty years.

Ina healthy environment, board members and executive directors alike wouldconstantly look to recruit and develop new participants and supporters.

Thereis an enormous reservoir of talent in our community waiting to be tapped:

• Theyoung neighbor who organizes the bake sale to raise funds for her child’selementary school can use the same talents to benefit a neighborhood center oradvocacy group.

• That co-worker skilled in organizing workplace functions whoconsistently demonstrate a knack for great ideas for entertaining, fundraising,or recruiting.

• The new attorney/insurance agent/ accountant/ corporateexecutive/ returning veteran in your neighborhood who could contribute mightilyto your organization while simultaneously expanding their own personal network.

Thereis a natural progression of responsibility in both the workplace andthe civic arenas. New recruits start at the bottom, have a chance to makemistakes and learn from them, to demonstrate energy, industry, initiative, teamspirit. They move from neophyte to assistant to associate to primary to chiefas they demonstrate mastery and reliability and readiness. Before long the best and brightest are ready for leadership roles in our churches, social agencies. Some may emerge aspotential candidates for public office.

Atthe dawn of a new era in the sixties, when the possibility arose that a blackperson might become mayor of Cleveland, Carl Stokes was ready. He haddemonstrated the skills and commitment necessary for the job. He was 36 when heran the first time.

Contrast that era to 2001 when another young lawyer, anative son with national credentials, tossed his hat in the mayoral ring. Ittook his uncommon tenacity and the eventual endorsement of his Congresswoman toovercome the inbred and closed structure of our community and make Ray Pierce aviable candidate against the wishes of an aggregation of cautious and timid gatekeepers.

Itis not so much caution and timidity that causes so many of our organizations toturn their collective backs on welcoming and developing our young people intofuture leaders. It is unfortunately something worse than that: a misplacedsense of entitlement, a desire to hold on to some puny or imagined piece ofpower or prestige.

Wheninsiders hang on too long they cease being community assets and becomecommunity clogs. They choke off the natural paths our youth to stretch andgrow.

Whenyoung people don’t see opportunity or a welcome hand, they are likely either todisengage or depart. Most of us have seen our children leave Cleveland forplaces of greater opportunity.

Whereare the opportunity structures in Cleveland when what should be our premier andeven second-tier organizations have the same board members in place fordecades?

Oneof the worst offenders in this regard is the Cleveland branch NAACP. Thepresident has been there twenty years. Several members of the executivecommittee have been there twice that long.

Inour first paragraph we said we would spotlight a community nonprofit. As it happens this time the spotlight reveals mold.

But we end bymaking this plea: resolve to join the NAACP in 2012. If we can reclaim the mostsclerotic organization in our community from its politburo, there’s no limit towhat we can do.

OccupyNAACP in 2012!

Herman Cain: Able to be Paid for Sex?

2011-11-30T15:12:00.001-05:00

I have abstained pretty much from even reading much less writing about the GOP pop phenomenon Herman Cain, whose 15 minutes should have expired months ago. The man is so obviously unqualified to be president that his very presence on the Republican platform is troubling. Yeah, I know, the same could be said about a lot of their candidates, but Brother Cain is spectacularly unsuited.

Truth is, he seems to know it. The hat, the cigarette-smoking campaign manager in the commercial, the non-traditional media focus that is clearly not focused on delegate collection, the superficial answers to virtually every question. I have to think that Rachel Maddow pegged him correctly as having a good laugh at the nation's expense.

Of course, the man doesn't know when to exit the stage. He has messed over several women's lives in the process, and as the letter below indicates, is still trying to profit from his skanky ways even as he extends his departure through a painful "campaign reassessment".

I just have to say that I don't believe Cain would have been considered a serious candidate for five minutes were it not for the enormous discomfort most Republicans feel with most black people. Until now, that discomfort has allowed Cain to make money selling his books, and enabled Republicans to pretend that they are an open, welcoming, and affirming party.

Nov 29, 2011: Stand With Me

Dear Patriots and Supporters,

As you probably heard yesterday, a troubled Atlanta business woman
used national media outlets to promulgate a fabricated, unsubstantiated
story about a 13 year affair with me. I am writing you today to assure
you that this woman’s story is completely false.

I do know Ms. White. I have helped her financially at times over the
past few years, just as I have helped many friends and acquaintances
throughout the years. I thought Ms. White was a friend in need of a
supportive hand to better her life.

Ms. White has made it apparent that she was abusing the friendship.

But now I am asking for your friendship. I am also asking for your prayers
and support. This is a trying time for my family, my campaign, and for me.
It is also a trying time for our country as we are all distracted from the truly
important issues facing our nation.

This evening I have an important speaking engagement at Hillsdale College
in Hillsdale, Michigan, where I will be outlining my foreign policy and national
security plan. While recent events have taken a toll on me, the people in the
audience this evening will not know it. I will deliver my message with vigor
and enthusiasm.

Let me assure you, I am not deterred. America’s future is too important.
We will continue on this journey to make America great once again.

Thank you and God bless.

Sincerely,
Herman Cain

BREAKING NEWS: Annette Butler appointed Common Pleas judge

2011-11-29T17:32:00.001-05:00

AnnetteG. Butler will become the newest judge on the Cuyahoga County Common PleasCourt bench when she takes office on Dec. 12 after her appointment today byGov. John R. Kasich.

Butlerreplaces former Judge Timothy McGinty, who resigned on Oct. 31. In order toserve out the remainder of McGinty’s term, which ends Jan. 1, 2017, Butler mustrun in the November 2012 general election.

Shereceived a bachelor’s degree in sociology and psychology from Case WesternReserve University and earned her juris doctorate from the Cleveland-MarshallCollege of Law. For nearly 25 years, Butler served as an assistant U.S.Attorney for Civil Trials and Appeals in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, NorthernDistrict of Ohio. She has additional legal practice experience in both thepublic and private sector, and has taught numerous courses at the Academy ofCourt Reporting & Technology and the Justice Department National AdvocacyCenter.

Butleris the past president and current board member of the Federal Bar Association’sNorthern District of Ohio Chapter. Butler continues to serve on several boardsof trustees, including that of the Cleveland State University DevelopmentFoundation, and has been recognized by various groups for her service within herprofession and community.

McGinty resigned torun for Cuyahoga County prosecutor next year. Ironically, Butler ran for countyprosecutor against incumbent Bill Mason in 2009; she lost decisively.

Until her appointmentButler was serving as a member of the reconstituted Cuyahoga County Board ofRevision.

Turner files to run against Fudge for Congress

2011-11-29T15:40:00.001-05:00

StateSenator Nina Turner filed petitions yesterday with the Cuyahoga County Board ofElections to run for the Democratic nomination for Congress from thenewly-redistricted 11^th Congressional District. The seat iscurrently held by Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge.

Ohio’sfederal primary election is presently scheduled for June 12, three months afterthe state’s primary for local and state offices. State Republican legislatorscreated the second primary, at an estimated added cost of $15 million, to allowtime to negotiate with Democrats over Ohio’s congressional remapping.

Ohiois losing two Congressional districts effective Jan. 2013 because the state’spopulation has grown more slowly than the rest of the nation.

Ohio Republicanshave drawn the new Congressional map in a way that eliminates most inter-partycompetition and almost guarantees GOP wins in twelve of the districts.Democrats are believed to be currently pushing a 6-6-4 plan that would make sixdistricts more competitive, favoring Republicans in only six districts, andDemocrats in four.

Unlessnegotiations between Republican and Democratic state legislators result in anagreement this week to adjust the GOP majority’s congressional map, it willbe nearly impossible to hold both primaries on the same day, because theoriginal filing date for partisan office is next Wednesday, December 7.Congressional candidates presently have until March 14 to file, but are likely to file byDecember 7 so as not be left out in the cold by any last-second legislativedeal that might restore the single primary.

Thisis Ohio so of course it’s more complicated than that. Democrats are working tocollect hundreds of thousands ofsignatures [they need231,150 valid ones] to delay implementation of the GOP’s 12-4 map and bring theissue before Ohio voters next November. And of course, court action by eitherparty is a possibility.

Whateverthe federal filing primary election dates turn out to be, theFudge-Turner battle is certain to be fierce, and likely reshape the politicallandscape in the area as much as the GOP-gerrymandered map.

Nonprofit Thursday

2011-11-25T13:55:00.001-05:00

Sendyour Nonprofit Thursday info to: nonprofits@cuyahoganews.net

EVENTS

Cleveland’s own George Fraser, one ofAmerica’s most prolific and polished public speakers, will address the CityClub of Cleveland next Friday, November 30. Five of hisspeeches have been published over the past ten years in the widely distributed Vital Speeches of the Day.

Fraser ha alsowritten several books, including SuccessRuns In Our Race; The Complete Guide to Effective Networking in the AfricanAmerican Community (HarperCollins 1994, 2004), Race For Success; The Ten Best Business Opportunities for Blacks InAmerica (HarperCollins 1998) and Click:Ten Truths for Building Extraordinary Relationships (McGraw-Hill 2008).

Fraser is widelyrecognized as a leading authority on networking, economic development, and building effectiverelationships.

Call 216.621.0082 or visit www.cityclub.orgfor reservations.

• • •

TheFoundation Center is offering several basic programs next week of great utilityto executive directors and trustees new to the nonprofit world. The programs are free and are presented at The Foundation Center-Clevelandoffice in Playhouse Square: 1422 Euclid Ave., Suite 1600:

Wednesday, November30
Introductionto Fundraising Planning, 10:00 - 11:00am
Learn a basic planning process for diversifying your organization’s support.

BrownBag Lunch: Boards, Fundraising, and The Art of Asking, 11:30am- 1:00pm
Bring your lunch and come hear resource development expert Barbara Rosenthaldiscuss the basic principles of good fundraising, working with your board, andlearning "the Art of Asking."

YourBoard and Fundraising, 1:00 - 2:00pm
This class addresses why board members may be reluctant to fundraise and how toovercome these concerns.

Thursday, December 1
ProposalWriting Basics, 10:00 - 11:30am
Learn the key components of a proposal to a foundation.

Howto Approach a Foundation, 1:00 - 2:00pm
From initial contact to getting funded, this class will teach you thefield-tested best practices to increase your chances of getting a grant.

To register, call216.861.1933 or clickhere.

• • •

OPENINGS/OPPORTUNITIES in the Nonprofit World

• Canyour agency or organization use a Summer Intern? The ClevelandFoundation just might provide you with one if you apply by next Wednesday, November 30.

TheCleveland Foundation's Summer Internship Program is accepting applications fromarea nonprofits or governmental agencies until November 30, 2011. College students,recent graduates, and graduate students work full-time for an 11-week sessionduring the summer.

TheCleveland Foundation provides funding to cover the intern’s stipend.

More information can be found by clicking here.

• • •

The Mahoning Youngstown Community ActionPartnership is looking for an executive director.

The successfulcandidate will be responsible for the operations and management of thecommunity action agency. The preferred candidate will have a master’s degree innonprofit management or public administration, together with a minimum of fiveyears experience in a nonprofit executive leadership position.

For more informationcontact The Prout Group [1111Superior Ave., Cleveland OH 44114 • 216-771-2260].

• • •

Send your Nonprofit Thursday info to: nonprofits@cuyahoganews.net

Next week’s deadline is Monday at 3pm.

2011-11-24T11:01:00.001-05:00

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

NonProfit Thursday will appear tomorrow.

Unity and Class Issues in the Black Community, Part II

2011-11-23T16:35:00.001-05:00

Properly understood, the CivilRights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s was one of the most democratic episodesin American political history. There was no script written by some greatplaywright in the sky, handed out in communities across the country. There wasno universally acknowledged director, no head of central casting, and no formalaudition process. The relationships between leaders and followers were often fluid.

Compared to earlier socio-politicalmovements — the Abolitionist, Women’s Suffrage, Labor — the civil rights movementwas considerably more organic, decentralized, communal, and emergent. Much of itsstrength, brilliance, and resilience came from a shared set of ideals and agrowing belief in the possibility of change.

It is fair to say that during themovement there was a more dynamic symbiotic relationship between whoever wasleading at the moment and the masses of black people and their allies. It wasoften messy and it certainly wasn’t perfect; nonetheless there seemed to be awidely shared understanding that followers were as important as leaders.

A major consequence of the civilrights era was an opening of the political sphere to broader participation byblack people as both voters and consequently as elected officials. In theaftermath of Movement success, the number of black elected officials holdershas increased from fewer than 1500 in 1970 nationwide to more than 10,500 today. There are about eighty African Americanelected public officials in Cuyahoga County alone today, and possibly a fewhundred in the State as a whole.

What is less clear is how thisapparent political power has operated to advance the community in whose name ithas been sought and wielded. Some observers argue that black politicalleadership is by and large disconnected from the community. It is no longer axiomatic, if it ever was,that black political leaders are of, from and for the people.

Compounding the analysis is aseries of demographic and geographic changes that no longer concentrate a vastmajority of African Americans within a single political boundary. Does it makea difference to be a black elected official when ten or twenty or fifty oreighty percent of your constituency is nonblack? What impact has this had onthe fact that poor Americans of all colors and stripes have been virtuallydropped from the political discussion?

• • •

Richmond Heights Parents Press School Board for Answers

2011-11-23T01:08:00.001-05:00

Our regular readers know that wehave been reporting on the Richmond Heights school district since our curiositytook us to a school board meeting there six months ago. It soon becameapparent that the rogue behavior of the basketball coach was merely thepresenting problem, and that dysfunction in the district was longstanding,systemic, and deeply rooted.

The selfless, courageous andunited action of the boys basketball team in demanding the immediate removal ofthe coach commanded the support of their parents, who then asserted themselveson behalf of their children, and eventually on behalf of all of the children inthe system.

The parents won the support ofthe superintendent quickly enough but were regularly obstructed by a schoolboard majority whose attitudes and actions, both public and private, began tocome under the community’s persistent pressure.

The number of concerned parentsgradually grew as concerns expanded from the coach’s abuse of his charges toissues of district mismanagement, instability, malfeasance, finance, and, notleast, substandard delivery of educational excellence.

Two key developments occurredover the summer. Two of the more active and involved parents — BobbyJordan and Frank Barber — had applied in April for a vacancy on the schoolboard. The board majority selected Barber, who declined, and ultimately Jordanwas awarded the seat.

The first key development wasBarber’s subsequent decision to run for a full term. His victory, coupled withJordan’s election earlier this month to serve the balance of the term to whichhe was appointed, very likely signals a new day at district headquarters. It islikely that those two will team with the senior board member, LindaPliodzinskas, to form a new majority that will focus on stabilizing thedistrict, eliminating personality-driven private agendas, and advancingeducational goals.

The second key development wasthe formation of PARENTS 4 KIDS as an advocacy group for children andeducation. P4K has met several times over the summer and fall. On Monday, inadvance of last night’s regularly scheduled board meeting, the group delivereda letter to the president of the school board and the interim superintendent. Acopy of the letter was obtained by The Real Deal has obtained a copy of the letter, which runs to three pages ofsingle-spaced copy.

Styled as an open letter to“Parents, School Board Members, Administration, Teachers, and Community”, itsstated objective is to “raise awareness among parents and in the RichmondHeights Community as to the grave conditions which have drastically impactedour children’s education.” A request is made for a town hall meeting orcommunity forum with the board “for the purpose of dialogue and interactionpertaining to strategies to both address and overcome every obstacle that hasbeen a hindrance to success for our children.” P4K wants this meeting to occurby December 10 and hopes “to establish mutual purpose, mutual goals, and mutualsolutions.”

The letter expresses P4K concernsin three broad categories: Diversity Tolerance, Academics, and Finance. UnderDiversity Tolerance, parents express anxiety over the current investigation bythe US Dept. of Education, Office of Civil Rights, which is widely expected tofind the district and various parties guilty of discrimination, negligence, andretaliatory conduct. P4K also seeks an update on the Community Building Projectinitiated by Linda T. Hardwick before her suspension. And, the parentsalso want answers about the removal of at least eight individuals “who havebeen non-renewed, forced to leave, fired, or downsized on what appears to bethe basis of race or retaliation and even gender in the past three years.”

P4K’s academic concerns includethe status of credit recovery and tutoring programs, and how the accreditationprocess will proceed in the absence of the superintendent who initiated it. Acompanion concern has to do with the number of middle school students who arewithout textbooks in some classes, and high school students using bookspublished almost twenty years ago.

The letter also asks “whatmechanisms have been put in place to improve the status of ‘ContinuousImprovement’ at the elementary school” and how the elevation of the school’sprincipal to interim superintendent will “impact our struggling elementarystudents”.

The third area of P4K concerndeals with financial and policy matters. Five questions are asked, including:

“• Exactly how much has beenspent in legal fees, combating complaints of discrimination, and attempting tojustify poor practice of firing Superintendents, and retaliating againststudent, parents, and administration who speak against it?

• Is it true that RH teachersreceived a retroactive 2% raise, and will possibly incur an additional raise inthe next year? Why is the teacher’s contract unavailable to the public? Whywere teachers not asked to make concessions or retain their levels, when thedistrict has said to parents concerning the purchase of books, computers,extra-curricular activities, elective classes, and transportation, there is nomoney?

• Why were Race to the Top dollarsawarded, yet turned down by our school district?”

At Tuesday’s meeting, boardpresident Josh Kaye promised to get back to the parents by Monday on a date for thecommunity forum. He also promised to make the teachers contract available soon.

Unity and Class Issues in the Black Community, Part I

2011-11-22T14:25:00.001-05:00

A wonderful op-ed in this past Sunday's Los Angeles Times about a certain kindof integration reminds us of a vibrant time when the late Judge George W. Whitewas a city councilman.

White was laid to rest last Saturday,rightfully celebrated for many achievements, among them his founding of B.O.S.S.[Blacks Organized for Social Services], a self-help group that later mergedwith the Negro Community Federation to create the United Black Fund of GreaterCleveland. UBF will celebrate its thirtieth anniversary next year.

White was representingCleveland’s Lee-Seville community in May 1968 when Cleveland mayor Carl Stokesproposed building 274 single-family houses in White’s black middle-class ward.The development was to be on 51 acres of vacant land the city had acquired from the CuyahogaMetropolitan Housing Authority.

Coincidentally — or not — White, along withfellow councilmen George Forbes and Leo Jackson, had just been soundly thrashedearlier that month by Louis Stokes, Carl’s brother, in the Democratic primaryfor the newly-created 21^st Congressional District. It is interesting to note that all five of these politicians went onto bigger things.[1]

Councilman White led theopposition to the housing development, arguing that the community alreadysuffered from a dearth of adequate city services, especially police protection.Mayor Stokes labeled White and fellow councilman Clarence Thompson “blackbigots” for using tactics similar to those employed by white suburbanites toexclude blacks from their communities.

Economic class was the elephantin the room. White’s constituency was primarily middle-class homeowners; theproposed residents of the development were to be families displaced by urbanrenewal. The housing was never built, as the all-white anti-Stokes faction inCleveland’s thirty-three member council were all too happy to side with Whiteand Thompson to punish the mayor.

What happened in Cleveland in1968 was not unique to that time or this location, as the essay by L. A. Times contributing writer ErinAubry Kaplan points out:

Itwasn't always like this. Economic diversity used to be a given in blackcommunities, and it made them far more cohesive and resilient. Black peoplenow, including my neighbors, talk longingly about those days when the poorlived among the professionals and the working class, and about how we need toget that kind of unity back. The irony is that that cohesion was largely aproduct of segregation; my father grew up in a segregated neighborhood right inthe heart of L.A. While nobody I know is suggesting that we return to the goodold days of Jim Crow, the "unity effect" is sorely missed.

These days black unity is a cherished ideal rather than the fact of life thatit used to be. Part of the reason is that, since the 1960s and the end of JimCrow, blacks have lost the thread of their own story. As we have scattered outfrom our compact communities, a freedom narrative that was once clear andurgent has become muddy and uninspiring, replaced with tons ofdownward-trending data and statistics that move no one.

The catalyst for Kaplan’s pieceis the entry into her Inglewood neighborhood of a Section 8 family. It’s abrief but compelling read. We urge you to check it out and then return here withyour thoughts tomorrow for Part II.

[1] White was appointed a federal judge in 1980. Jackson served on the Eighth District Court of Appeals from 1970 to 1986. Forbes was president of city council from 1974 to 1989. Lou Stokes wonelection to Congress in 1968 and served until he retired 30 years later. CarlStokes completed two terms as mayor and then moved to New York where he became a television reporter and news anchor. He returned to Cleveland in the 1980s and becamea Cleveland municipal court judge. His public career culminated with service as USambassador to the Seychelles.

Note: An earlier version of this post reversed the order of Stokes' judicial and diplomatic service. Thanks to eagle-eyed reader Dick Peery for alerting us to the error.

Nonprofit Thursdays Report

2011-11-17T17:40:00.001-05:00

Westart this Nonprofit Thursday recalling the zest that Judge George W. White hadfor community and self-help. Obit writers, including us, noted his affability,but he was steadfast in his pursuits and possessed of a certain feistiness toboot. The time of his passing has poignancy reminiscent of the natural passing of the seasons.

Thejudge’s proudest community achievement was undoubtedly the establishment of theCleveland chapter of the United Black Fund. This weekend will witness not thejudge’s funeral but also the retirement party of his longtime UBF colleague andfriend, Ruby Terry, who served as both board chair and then chief executiveofficer for more than twenty years.

Thebookend events perhaps form a springboard for the launch of UBF’s next phase,which will be led by its new president, Cecil Lipscomb. We had the chance tochat with Mr. Lipscomb for a few minutes when we stopped at UBF offices earlierthis week. He is an impressive young man with a bold agenda for a vital agencyin need of a shot in the arm.

Lipscombwas presented as a candidate to the UBF board through the efforts of Barbara Danforth, former YWCA Cleveland president and CEO who this year launched a new career asexecutive search consultant. She appears to be off to a great start!

JudgeWhite charted an independent course as a politician. He would probably applaudthe efforts of the Cuyahoga County Young Democrats in their sponsorship of aseries of panel discussions addressing the issue of city, county, and regional population decline.

Tonight’spanel discussion, “Media and Self-Esteem of the County”, is the second of aneleven part series. It will focus on the County’s image in the local andnational media. Tonight's panel will bemoderated by radio personality Bijou Star [aka Kim Sadler] of Radio One Cleveland. Panelists will be Kenny Crumpton and AngelicaCampos (Fox 8) Colby "Colby Colb" Tyner of Radio-One, Felicia Haneyof the Call and Post, and RockyRobinson of Plain Dealer.

Theseries aims to provide in-depth and often surprising information regarding thestate of Cuyahoga County through eleven topical discussions - each focusing onan aspect of life in the region. The program is intended to involve and elicitinput from the public.

Theeleven panel discussions will culminate in the “Why Stay Conference” scheduledfor September 2012. Emphasis is on ways regional government can retain theso-called Echo Generation, the 80 million tech-savvy Americans born between1977 and 1997.

Thepanel discussion is free of charge and is open to the public. No reservations are required, so head overafter work to Loft Works in midtown [1667 E. 40^th street, Suite B1]Midtownfrom 6-8:30PM.

Formore information, please contact Charmaine Pope, Co-chair, Why Stay ExecutiveCommittee, at 216.200.2761.

• • •

If youhave been curious about the Occupy the Hood movement, you might want to headover to The Audacity of H.O.P.E. Foundation tomorrow. Topics being addressedinclude firsthand reports from homeowners victimized by fraudulentforeclosures, and how to fight back against them.

Theprogram will start at 6PM at 11239 Superior Ave in the Glenville area justnorth of University Circle.

Nocharge, no reservations, all are welcome. Contact Natalie Fitten of Occupy theHood Cleveland [216.383.4873] or Griot Y-Von

[audacityofhopefoundation@yahoo.com /216.355.3374].

^{• • •}

The Cleveland Council of Black CollegesAlumni Association and the Metropolitan Cleveland Alliance of Black SchoolEducators (Metro CABSE) are sponsoring their annual Historically BlackCollege & University College Fair.

The event will take place this Saturdayfrom 8:30AM until 12:30PM on the main campus of The Word Church SouthMultiPlex in southeast Cleveland. Contact:

Mary Rice [216.932.4639 • 216.570.1200 • meryldene@aol.com ]

• • •

OPENINGS/OPPORTUNITIES

The Mahoning Youngstown Community Action Partnership islooking for an executive director.

The successful candidate will beresponsible for the operations and management of the community action agency. Thepreferred candidate will have a master’s degree in nonprofit management orpublic administration, together with a minimum of five years experience in anonprofit executive leadership position.

For more information contact The Prout Group [1111 Superior Ave., Cleveland OH 44114 • 216-771-2260].

Send your Nonprofit Thursday info to: nonprofits@cuyahoganews.net

Deadline for consideration is Fridaysat 3pm.

• • •

BULLETIN: US Judge George White, 1931-2011

2011-11-15T13:42:00.001-05:00

George W. White, retired chief judge of the U.S. DistrictCourt in Cleveland, died Nov. 12, at age 80.

White’ssteely backbone and incisive mind were encased in an affable personality,features that helped him become the court's first African American judge in1980 and first black chief in 1995. The judge was in his third term as a CuyahogaCounty Court of Common Pleas judge when President Carter nominated him on May 23, 1980.

JudgeWhite assumed senior status at the Court in 1999.

Whitewas born in Duquesne, Pennsylvania on May, 6 1931. He graduated from BaldwinWallace College (1951) and Cleveland Marshall College of Law (1955).

From1964 to 1968 he served as a councilman in the Lee-Harvard area, representingwhat was then Ward 13.

JudgeWhite’s wife of 52 years, Lillian and son Steven, both predeceased him. He issurvived by a son David (Myra Jackson) a daughter, Lori White Laisure (Daryl),and five grandchildren.

Serviceswill be held at Antioch Baptist Church, 8869 Cedar Avenue, Cleveland thisSaturday, November 19 at 11am. A wake will precede the service. Calhoun Funeral Home is handling thearrangements.

References:

• http://www.cleveland.com/obituaries/index.ssf/2011/11/george_w_white_led_us_district.html

• Calhoun FuneralHome, 17010 Lake Shore Blvd., Cleveland, OH 44110-1018 216.738.0300 www.calhounfuneral.com

PROPOSED REFERENDUM ON HOUSE BILL 194 REQUIRES ADDITIONAL SIGNATURES

2011-11-14T17:27:00.001-05:00

Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted announced today that almost 10,000 additional signatures are needed bynext week to place House Bill 194 to a statewide referendum next year.

Petitioners seeking to placeHouse Bill 194, “the voter suppression” bill on the November 2012 ballot needalmost 9600 more valid signatures to get the referendum on the ballot. Theysubmitted 333,063 total signatures, of which only 221,572, about two-thirds,were valid.

Petitioners now have ten days, untilThursday, November 24, to gather the additional valid signatures. The petitionssubmitted have satisfied the other constitutional requirements to collectsignatures from at least 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties, and within each of thosecounties collected enough signatures equal to three percent of the total votecast for governor in the most recent gubernatorial election, 2010. The threepercent threshold was achieved in 52 counties.

Failureto secure the additional signatures would result in immediate application of HB194, including curtailment of early voting.

Congressional Democrats hold hearing on nationwide voting law changes

In Washington DC, today, HouseDemocrats, including RepresentativeMarcia Fudge (OH-11), helda forum entitled “Excluded from Democracy: The Impact of Recent State VotingLaw Changes”.

Here are excerpts from Rep.Fudge’s opening remarks:

"It is time that the Americanpeople hear from more than just us that there is a concerted effort across thiscountry to limit, to suppress and to undo our right to vote. It is deliberateand it is by design. From Ohio to Wisconsin, down to Florida, across Texas, thefranchise is under attack today in this country. A certain predeterminedsegment of Americans are being targeted; young people, the elderly, ourdisabled and minorities, will all feel the repercussions of this concertedeffort. There's nothing new about what we're seeing today if you have lived aslong as I have lived. These are the tactics that have been used for years tocompromise the franchise.” …

“Legislation passed or proposed in thestate of Ohio, which is my home, and a number of other states has ended Sundayvoting. Think about it, Ohio's Republican legislature has voted to reduce notonly Sunday voting but voting early from currently what was 35 days a year agodown to 16 days. In 2008, African-American voters accounted for 22% of earlyvotes and 31% of Sunday voters. Latinos accounted for 22% of Sunday voters.Minorities who work long hours all week and don't get time off need theflexibility that early voting and Sunday voting provide. On Saturdays andSundays, before Election Day, people of faith across the country remind theirparishioners to vote. But those orchestrating this suppression effort know fullwell the importance of Sunday voting and early voting. They know minorities inparticular will be disproportionately impacted by these laws.”

New Occasions Teach New Duties: Joe Paterno's Choice Point

2011-11-14T12:58:00.001-05:00

For a variety of reasons I don’ttypically write a lot about national & international matters. Part of it isthe adage to write what you know. It is difficult to be sure-footed aboutthings you can see only from a distance. Also, there is no lack of folks readyto pontificate about the federal government, Pakistan, nuclear proliferation, globalwarming, Israel, etc. My rule is to think globally and historically, but towrite/act locally.

But I do have a general inclinationto fill in the gaps when important issues are not being acknowledged, where keyaspects of a situation are muted or just dropped altogether from the story.

The Jerry Sandusky-JoePaterno-Penn State outrage is one of them.

As usual in stories of serialabuse, money and power are factors. Inthis case, the victims by definition had neither money nor power. It was theirlack of family resources that profiled them for screening and assault by coachSandusky through his Second Mile charity.

What permitted Sandusky toassault and abuse young boys for so long was the immense enabling machine thatwas Penn State Football, an institution unto itself that provided $50 millionin profit to the University. Every year.

No wonder JoePa was next togodliness in Happy Valley. Remember Ohio State University president E GordonGee’s sad joke about hoping that OSU football coach Jim Tressel didn’t firehim? Tressel headed OSU football only about a decade. Paterno was at PSU formore than half a century.

Paterno had morepower at Penn State than its president. No matter how little he knew, or whenand how he learned it, Paterno was the guy who could have stopped the abuse assoon he found out. It was his duty, and one that he could not delegate. Titlesaside, he ruled the roost.

In observing that Paterno was theultimate guy who could not pass the buck, I mean neither to judge him nor toabsolve all the others who had knowledge of the abuse and did not do enough tostop it. The conspiracy of silence and inaction that betrayed those innocentyoung men was widespread.

The tragedy evokes for me a poem I first learned when I was aprep school student, only a year or two older than some of Sandusky’s prey.

“The Present Crisis” wasoriginally written by James Russell Lowell as an anti-slavery statement.[1]It was introduced to me in chapel service as a hymn, rendered in foreboding anddreadful tone. The stanzas I learned had by then been adapted for Protestantworship, and encapsulate the choice point that may come to define Paterno’slife:

Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide,

In the strife of truth with falsehood, for the good or evil side;

Some great cause, God’s newmessiah, offering each the bloom or blight,

And the choice goes by forever ‘twixt that darkness and that light.

Paterno’s choice point came notwhen he reported the incident up the nominal chain of command, but at whatevermoment he realized nothing was being done.As the ultimate Big Man on Campus, he had only to say a word, and justice couldhave been done. It appears that instead of a word, there was a wink and a nod toward presumed institutional interests — Penn State, the football program, and Joe Pa himself —and the choice went by.

[1] http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Present_Crisis

iPods and Ain’ts for fans of Music & Serendipity

2011-11-12T19:35:00.001-05:00

My wife is a college professorand an executive coach. She does a lot of her work from her home office. Sheuses two computers and moves from one to the other like she was the keyboardartist for Santana.

Me, I don’t like to do housework,but since she has world-class allergies and we aren’t rich, a lot of thehousework falls to me. So I am deeply appreciative to Steve Jobs for the iPod,which allows me enter another world as I mindfully do mindless but essential stuff like dusting.

The iPod is great because itstays with me in my pocket as I go from room to room and floor to floor in myattention-deficit mode of house cleaning. And it’s especially good forvacuuming because I can still hear the music.

I charged up the 32-gigger todayin preparation for sweeping, mopping and polishing the kitchen, pantryand mudroom floors.

My iPod tells me it has 3288songs. I believe I could listen to it 24/7 for three weeks without it repeatinganything. Still, I get in a musical rut sometimes, captive to a groove that hasme listening to the Spinners, Pharaoh Sanders, Freddie Cole or Beethoven’sEgmont Overture for weeks on end.

Not all of the songs are idealfor cleaning. Like I might be blue about having to clean but Brahms’ Requiem wouldn’t really capture it.

Of course I have playlists.R&B/Soul and Rock are usually good choices for large muscle activities likevacuuming or grass cutting, but I wanted something different today, and nothingcame readily to mind.

So I decided to try something new.I went to the menu where all my tunes from Aaron Neville to Zubin Mehta werelisted alphabetically by title. I’ve done this with a favored individual artistlike Keb’ Mo’ or Robert Cray but never with the entire collection.

I skipped the first few songs,choosing to start with Roy Meriwether’s smoky nightclub piano jazz trio numberthat lives up to its name: “After Hours”.

“Affinity”, off a LaVerne Butlercd, followed as a pleasant surprise. It was an instrumental that I didn’t recallbeing on the singer’s cd.

John Coltrane’s “Africa”,rendered by Conrad Herwig, was up next. I have no idea where I got that cd. Musthave been free.

Next came that soul singer ofgreat angst, Walter Jackson, with “After You There Can Be Nothing”. On the sametheme but with different sensibilities came three versions of “After You’veGone”, performed successively by Joe Williams, Sarah Vaughan and WyntonMarsalis.

This was starting to be fun! What would be next?

There came a neat change of pacewith the lilting and infectious “Aguas De Marco” by Stan Getz. One of thedrawbacks of digital music is that you can’t go check the liner notes to learnthe name of the vocalist with the pretty voice [reliable authority tells me the voice belongs to the pre-famous Astrud Gilberto].

Then we got to the Aints. B. B.King said he was not going get upset, “Ain’t Gonna Worry My Life”]. Nina Simonecame along celebrating [“Ain’t Go No/I Got Life”].

Now we came to a long string ofAints led off by Fats Waller’s “Ain’t Misbehavin’”, interpreted through theincomparable pipes of Johnny Hartman. Steve Tyrell was up next with the samesong. Yeah!

The Temptations dropped in with afavorite from 40 years ago: “Ain’t No Sun Since You Been Gone”.

Nina came back with “Ain’t NoUse”: there’s nothing that fella could say, he had treated her too mean and shewas outta there.

Who could follow Nina but theQueen of Soul?

“Ain’t No Way” has always beenone of my all-time favorite Arethas for so many reasons. It’s incrediblysoulful, has fantastic brass progressions, Aretha’s own right on time piano, anda lyric of deep wistfulness and extraordinary power. But hey, I like it mostbecause it has such a slow, steady, deep powerful, and rockin’ rhythm: there’sno better slow jam in recorded history.

I was going to play it again, butbefore I could put down the mop and extract the iPod from my pocket, Aretha started feeling like Nina:she was through with love and came back with “Ain’t Nobody (Gonna Turn MeAround)”.

Seems like both of them knew theyweren’t in that real true relationship Marvin and Tammi sang about. But then everybodygets to a point sooner or later where they know that “Ain’t Nothing Like TheReal Thing”.

And when you find the real thing,whether spiritually or romantically, “Ain’t That Good News”? Two versions ofthat gospel goodie by The Moses Hogan Chorale bookended a song by the sametitle but totally different lyrics by Sam Cooke. Mercy!

I finished the kitchen floor, putaway the tools, came upstairs and sat down and wrote this to the accompanimentof variously, Benny Goodman [“Air Mail Special”], Nikki Giovanni [“Alabama Poem/((I’veDecided to Make Jesus My Choice) / Peace Be Still)”], Art Blakey [“Alamode”],and Earl Klugh [“Alice in Wonderland”].

Can't wait 'til next weekend. I didn't even make it halfway through the "A"s!

It’s supposed to be 60° tomorrow.If, as usual, the Browns are getting drubbed, I will turn off the TV and washwindows to the “B”s, or maybe the “R”s. If that happens, my wife will be sohappy I won’t have to play “Ain’t No Way”.

• • •

Anonymous Critics; Race; Belief vs. Conduct

2011-11-10T13:01:00.000-05:00

Yesterday evening I removed acomment that had been posted earlier in the day by an anonymous poster. I want to share with you why I did so and to set forth a principleregarding future comments.

The comment in question was adirect attack upon Nneka Slade Jackson. We endorsed Jackson in her race forthe ward 4 seat on Richmond Heights city council. (She lost but did farbetter than most first-time candidates usually do, but that is beside the point.)

This particular Anonymous made aseries of claims about Jackson’s lack of fitness for public office, apparentlyin an effort to rebut our condemnation of the Sun Messenger’s endorsement practices.

The commenter’s claims wereharsh but if true they might have been fair comment.

I didn’t want to makenegative comments about a Real Deal endorsed candidate the basis for our first occasion for censoring, even if there were elements in the comment that were false as well as ludicrous ontheir face. So I did two things: I called Ms.Jackson and I did a limited search of easily available public records.

Based upon my findings, I removed theoffensively inaccurate comment.

Going forward,TheReal Deal will immediately remove any similar comments published underthe cloak of anonymity. We allow anonymous comments on this site because somepeople might have good reasons not to disclose their identity. But we will notallow unsubstantiated scurrilous attacks by squirrels. A squirrel is herebydefined as a person who makes anonymous scurrilous attacks on other people.

No offense to squirrels.

• • •

On a related note, an increased number of anonymous comments take issue with our reporting, analysis,and assessments, especially with respect to Richmond Heights. We welcome thedialogue, especially when it deals with specifics. Oftentimes the comments helpus to understand where we might have been clearer, or presented us with anopportunity to restate information for some readers who may be new to theissues.

A lot of the anonymous commenters appearuncomfortable that much of what I write deals with race, again with specialreference to Richmond Heights. They seem to feel that I put too much emphasison race. They accuse me, and/or some of the black people I write about, ofplaying the race card. And they suggest that I am critical of such stellarpublic officials as Jason Popp, Josh Kaye, Bob Fox and Aaron Burko simplybecause they are white.

Balderdash.

I am an equal opportunity critic.A casual perusal of my back posts will find me more critical of certain blackfolks than I have yet been of esteemed members of the Richmond HeightsSchool District.

A more thoughtful analysis of myreporting will, I believe, warrant the conclusion that I criticize behavior. Icriticize the actions of these public employees and officials.

I didn’t call Jason Popp aracist although he admitted using the n-word. Nor do I think the obsessive desire of Messrs. Kaye,Burko, and Fox to fire thesuperintendent.

I think I pretty readily arguethat life is complex, that humans are complex beings, and that motivation ismost often multi-rooted. For instance, a white man can be a racist, as thatterm is generally misunderstood, yet pull the voting lever for President Obamanonetheless. His neighbor could be married to an African American but thinkthat the president’s policies are horribly conceived, egregiously executed, and that a vote for Obama’s opponent is essential to the nation's survival.

Similarly, Herman Cain… No, skipthat.

The point is that my criticism ofJason Popp is not based on who I think he is but on what he did: he routinely used racial epithets with a group of impressionable young black studentswhose care and education was entrusted to him. He got in their faces and showeddisdain for their heritage and culture, for who they were, and for who theirparents and grandparents are.

That’s not coaching. It’s childabuse.

The research says it.

Ohio law says it.

And school district policy says it.

But board members Josh Kaye,Aaron Burko and Bob Fox did not publicly acknowledge, even with a thousandlegal caveats, the impermissibility of such conduct for months. Even then ittook a courageous parent, Nneka Slade Jackson, acting on behalf of an outragedportion of the community, to skillfully and persistently push the school boardpresident to admit in a public forum that well, yeah, that kind of conductwould be inappropriate.

• • •

I will continue to address theconduct of these public officials as I complete my response toanother anonymous commenter. I will also focus on the conduct that is likely to result in multiple findings of misfeasanceagainst the school district by the bevy of public agencies currentlyinvestigating Richmond Heights Schools. Then I will to turn to the futureand what I hope will be a new course for the school district.

The hope is basedon the outcome of this week’s election and the probability that a new majoritywill evolve, a majority focused on the education of the children, stewardshipof the public trust, and creation of a healthy environment.

NonProfit Thursdays

2011-11-10T10:34:00.001-05:00

Contact Nonprofit Thursdays here:

NonprofitsATCUYAHOGANEWS.NET.

TODAY

• “Take It To TheStreets: The Occupy Movement & Free Speech”: a discussion on movement-building and theFirst Amendment.
WHEN: 7PM

WHERE: Max Wohl Civil Liberties Center

4506 Chester Ave, Cleveland 44103

WHO: TheOhio ACLU, membersof the Occupy Movement,and constitutional and criminal defense attorneys

ETC: This event is free and open to the public. Free parking is available.RSVP: call (216) 472-2220.

Reminder:

WHAT: HuntingtonIn-Kind Donation Open House

WHEN:TODAY until 11AM

WHERE:Commercial Works warehouse located at 4901 Johnston Parkway, GarfieldHeights, OH 44128

ETC:questions>> Sharon Sills atsharon.sills@huntington.com

COMING EVENTS

WHAT: 11th AnnualTelling Your Story: Nonprofits & The Media: “iPhone, iPad, iDon’tKnow How to Connect with Our Organization’s Mobile Audience…”

Presentedby Center for Community Solutions in Partnership withthe Saint Luke’s Foundation.

WHEN:Tuesday, November 15, 08:00 AM - 12:00PM

WHERE:Center for Familiesand Children, 3955 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland

WHO:Presenters: ChristinaKlenotic, Vice President, Dix & Eaton; Ann Poston, MarketingManager, The Cleveland Orchestra. Panel of Northeast Ohio Media: LeeChilcote, Development News Editor,Writer, Freshwater Cleveland; RickJackson, Morning Edition Host,Reporter, WCPN / WVIZ ideastream; LilaMills, Editor & Publisher,Greater University Circle Neighborhood Voice; KarlTurner, Deputy Metro Editor/Online,The Plain Dealer

ETC: Registrationrequired ($50) - click here to register
(Free parking in adjacentlot; first-come, first-served)

ANNOUNCEMENTS

CWRU’sSocial Justice Institute launching pilot course for proposed new social justiceminor

The Social Justice Instituterecently received approval to launch the pilot introductory core course for itsproposed Social Justice minor. The minor is under development by a multi-schoolteam of faculty.

The course, SJUS 100, will beginin spring 2012 and will focus on three questions: What is social justice? Whydoes social justice matter? What can be done?

It will encourage students tothink critically and expansively about the social world and the conditions ofhumanity, providing a foundational exploration of social justice concepts,issues and remedies. Students will develop the necessary analytical skills toassess inequality and injustice and address historical and contemporary issues.

Faculty from different schoolsand departments will be involved in the course.

For more information, contactShelley White at stw3@case.edu.

• • •

AWARDS

The National Black MBAAssociation Cleveland Northeast Ohio chapter 2011 Awards:

• 2011Corporate Partner of the Year: FirstEnergy Corp.

• 2011 R. Joyce Whitley Entrepreneur of the Year: Dr. Ellen Burts-Cooper,Founder and Senior Managing Partner, Improve Consulting and Training Group,

Sendyour Nonprofit Thursday info to:

nonprofits@cuyahoganews.net.

Deadlinefor consideration is Fridays at 3pm.

Richmond Heights Schools update: Interim Superintendent, questions about investigation

2011-11-08T14:15:00.000-05:00

The Richmond Heights Board ofEducation has named elementary school principal Dr. Robert Moore as interimsuperintendent to replace Dr. Linda T. Hardwick, who was relieved of her dutieswith pay on November 3.

The school district isinvestigating allegations supposedly related to the misappropriation ofdistrict property.

Local station WKYC-TV 3 has a brief story on its website on last night’s special board meeting. As of 1:30PMtoday no other local television station had posted a report.

Nature of investigation unclear

Informed parties believe that the“district property” consists of documents that unknown parties may have turnedover to the any of numerous federal and state government agencies that havebeen investigating alleged improprieties at the district.

In other words the investigationmay actually be the attempt by the Board to discover the whistle-blower [s] whohas exposed various board practices and actions to investigators. This couldmean that public resources are being used to uncover protected behavior.

By a 3-2 vote, the district lastweek fired central office employee, Peggy Parker, an action almost certain tocost the district money, win or lose. Parker is reported to have already fileda complaint with one or more agencies, and a lawsuit is likely being consideredas well.

Money for investigation

Richmond Heights taxpayers shouldask the board members Josh Kaye, Aaron Burko, and Bob Fox, the three who votedto suspend the superintendent and conduct the investigation, how much they planto spend on this investigation, who is getting paid to conduct it, and wherethe money is coming from.

These questions should be posedand answered even though the Board intends to refrainfrom making any further statements until the investigation is complete.

Thenext regularly scheduled board meets is Monday, November 21 at 7PM. By thattime district residents will have decided whether to retain the only twoincumbents, Linda Pliodzinskas and Bobby Jordan, who have tried to check manyquestionable board policies, and who they want to join or replace them. Bob Fox's term ends December 31 and he chose not to run for a second term.