The Challenge is to Create, Not Jobs, but Wealth
“North Minneapolis agencies are scrambling to get on board the “Green Wagon Train” without understanding it’s not about jobs, it’s about the creation of wealth.” Not just wealth for their agencies, which seems to be the flavor of the week, but true wealth for the underserved populations of Minneapolis and St. Paul.
By Don Boudreaux
Like economic alchemists, Senators Clinton and President Obama peddle plans to spend billions of taxpayer dollars on various government projects that will create millions of jobs (“Obama’s economic plan,” February 20).
Creating jobs – creating demand for workers – is no challenge. Vandals and arsonists do so routinely. What is a challenge is to create opportunities for workers to earn good incomes while producing real value for others, where value is confidently measured by the amounts that buyers voluntarily pay for what is produced. As far as I know, Sens. Clinton and Obama (and, for that matter, McCain) have never created a business whose success relied upon producing outputs efficiently and then selling these outputs at prices attractive to consumers.
So why suppose that any of their “plans” to create innovative industries and jobs are anything more than the cheap-to-dream-up fantasies of self-important politicians accustomed to spending other people’s money?
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Minnesota Department of Education needs to take a closer look at service providers for SES Title I after school tutoring “outreach” for failing African-American children and other children of color
"And the agencies that don't deliver."
I call for an overhaul because I find that two contact agencies – the Minneapolis Urban League and Front Street Marketing are abusing the current practices. At this writing we allege the two organizations also are in violation of the United States Federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, which pertains to the way a public entity conducting business with vendors outside the laws of the bid process, allowing for fair practice and competition.
The Minneapolis Urban League and Front Street Marketing are in violation of the RICO Act because the Urban League has signed an agreement to be the fiduciary agent for Front Street Marketing, a for-profit marketing company, located inside of the Urban League headquarters at 2100 Plymouth Avenue North. The actions involving possible violations of RICO were a lack of bid process funneling contract(s) directly to Front Street Marketing without a RFP (Request for Proposal) for contract services. This activity also brings about a Conflict of Interest that can be defined as any situation in which an individual or corporation (either private or governmental) is in a position to exploit a professional or official capacity in some way for their personal or corporate benefit.
Front Street Marketing intends to conduct marketing and community-outreach initiatives on behalf of the Minneapolis Public School System for the Title I SES after-school tutoring project in Minneapolis. With a number of major public failures by Front Street Marketing, (read here) – why would the MUL contract with the agency? The line items written in the contract developed between Front Street Marketing and the Minneapolis Urban League for the Minneapolis Public School System are as follows:
- Develop new and creative methods that effectively inform high school students, parents and guardians about Title I SES tutoring services;
- Share information with high school students and family members about the value that Title I SES tutoring services offer;
- Work with MPS and existing SES providers to align state standards for grade-levels and the school curriculum to the regular activity that occurs at each SES provider site;
- Provide follow-up with high school students who are enrolled in SES tutoring to provide motivation and accountability for attending;
- Follow-up with high school students who have not enrolled in SES tutoring services to determine the reason(s) and continue to try and motivate engagement;
- Identify an SES provider pilot site and/or sites at which staff will connect with high school students and family members on a personal basis to enhance attendance at regular school, engagement in tutoring services, and consistent completion of homework.
I ask the Minnesota Department of Education and the Minneapolis Public School System, who is to be held accountable to monitor the business practices of these two organizations? Before the project was assigned to Front Street Marketing and its fiduciary agent, the Minneapolis Urban League, who was to be held accountable to determine whether the research conducted was valid, and whether the prescribed deliverables would be appropriate and effective?
During the summer of 2008, at the request of Mr. Al Flowers, who was representing the Minneapolis Urban League and Front Street Marketing, I met with Ms. Kristen Schroeder of the “No Child Left Behind Program” within the Minneapolis Public Schools. Al Flowers established a verbal contract with me on behalf of the Minneapolis Urban League to write a Memorandum of Understanding for the seven faith-based, after-school tutoring hubs, conduct research and write the SES application. All of this work involved daily communication with Ms. Schroeder via the telephone, and as many as five scheduled meetings.
The Memorandum of Understanding required several re-writes to ensure that the faith-based organizations obtained the proper liability insurance, as well as qualified personnel. I submitted an invoice to Mr. Flowers and Front Street Marketing for payment of services to my firm. AS of today’s date, I have received no payment for my services. Instead, I’ve had my life threatened, and I’ve been told that I would receive no payment for my services. Yes, these are the same people the Minneapolis Public School System has placed in charge of outreach initiatives for our children.
During a recent meeting (the week of 1/19/09) with the district, Al Flowers was called to the MPS to discuss the marketing and an alleged confidentiality agreement, I learned that the Minneapolis Urban League’s Board of Directors have not been briefed about the $103,770, nor have they been informed of the alleged meeting..More importantly, they are not aware that no work has been delivered to date.
The $103,770 contract with the Minneapolis Urban League and Front Street Marketing could have been used more effectively to attract the groups of students targeted to participate in the tutoring program. A more effective solution would have been to contact with a firm that has a history and years of experience developing and implementing marketing programs and community outreach initiatives.
Minneapolis City Council Member Don Samuels take on the North side’s “Frankenstein’s” or in kinder words, the “Boogeyman”
To see the turn of events with sound, go to www.jordanlivability.wordpress.com
The YouTube video above (no sound) shows Minneapolis City Council Member Don Samuels being pushed and harassed by Al Flowers – a community “gadfly” that is based out of the Minneapolis Urban League.
Following is my reaction to the reports of conflict in which I was involved. There is not much to be gained in self defense or giving yet another version of events. There is a bigger issue here. I have simply used this opportunity to address this theme of discord that plays out endlessly in meetings in the North side Community. We must struggle to understand this phenomenon and develop the resiliency to resist it. We owe it to those who want to become engaged but are standing fearfully in the margins, unwilling to get involved.
Today, we elected a president who called us to a higher engagement with each other and with reality. He called us to honest and ethical appraisal of our conditions and the earnest work to fix our problems. He calls us to dispense with rancor and destructive combat and to unite for the common good.
And yet, there remains, in our community a shaming trend that besmirches our public discourse and dishonors generations of effort to build bridges. It seems to grow out of a seductive conclusion deduced from the dynamics of the Civil Rights era politics. The analysis goes like this: The reason the white power structure and White America conceded to black demands of reasonable people like King, was the scary specter of the urban chaos which did play out, even in our city. Thus, over the years, many in the community have seen it useful to nurture a Boogeyman element in order to strengthen the persuasiveness of an argument, proposal or demand.
The technique of the Boogeyman has become standardized across the nation. His influence is wielded to gain sympathy, concessions or funding from benefactors and funders. The power he or she has stems from the following elements:
aah-aah, Al Flowers - You represent who? (Note the CM had nothing to do with the placement of this photo,)
1. The Boogeyman has little to lose. He routinely violates the norms of decorum in personal and social interactions. He is not afraid of being perceived as marginal, manipulative or mentally ill. Clearly this void of natural, healthy boundaries and identity come from deficiencies in personal development, but the resulting “invulnerability” becomes shaped into an effective threat in the conjured cage-brawls of politics.
2. The Boogeyman assumes the power to shame and embarrass his victims. He is not afraid to reveal embarrassing personal details of his victim’s life. And because he is not white or powerful, he never has to turn the harsh glare of his ungraciousness on his own flaws. His targets are usually business executives, politicians, community leaders or institutions. They have a lot to lose. They live by their good name and the good name of their organizations. Chances are good that they will turn to the Boogeyman and say, “What do I need to give you to make you go away?”
3. The Boogeyman then snares the power to grant absolution to anyone who will bow to his tacit blackmail. When he says this or that person is okay, that person can breathe a sigh of relief on that particular issue for that moment in time.
4. In the last 35 years, the Boogeyman’s greatest power has come from his ability to brand you a racist if you are white or a sellout if you are not. White people are scared of few things more than being publicly called a racist and people of color, especially African Americans, are afraid of few things more than being publicly identified as a sellout or Uncle Tom. Even as these accusations form on the lips of the undomesticated Boogeyman, any potential victim can be quickly transformed into a benefactor, conceding to the Boogeyman’s demands.
5. The Boogeyman does not stop there. He may unearth your sexual history, your professional failings or your youthful indiscretions. The more vulnerable one is in these or any other category, the more easily one can be flipped into a benefactor or funder.
6. The Boogeyman gains great legitimacy from his relationship with the press. Because the Boogeyman usually has the trappings of street credibility, the press becomes morally trapped into lapses of sympathy. After all, the press itself might find its reporting challenged as racist or classist. The solution would be to deconstruct the Boogeyman but there is great public relations risk in Goliath defeating David, even an incorrigible David. And which press wants to be derailed by that accusation? On the other hand, a wink and a nod from the boogeyman becomes an enviable guarantor of temporary endorsement.
7. The Boogeyman gains great legitimacy from people who are in search of a stamp of legitimacy and ethical purity. While this is best earned through a life of honesty and acceptance of one’s shortcomings, the Boogeyman’s blessing is a quick microwave stamp of virtue. Immature leaders and vulnerable community members often crowd under the umbrella of the Boogeyman to protect themselves from the acid rain of his creation. Sometimes they pretend that he is telling the truth or maybe a certain kind of truth. They excuse his misbehavior because he is disadvantaged, overwhelmed, and passionate or that his cause is so righteous that his unrighteous methods are justified.
8. The boogeyman gains the advantage because he never fights fair. In contrast, his opponents must fight fair or lose their social standing. The boogeyman never has an equal exchange. He has no exchange. He yells, interrupts, defies all limits and terminates negotiation on a whim. If the victim/benefactor employs any one of these techniques, he or she loses face.
9. The Boogeyman is a challenge to curb because he will accuse any corrective force of oppression. The advantages of those who control resources are presented as evidence of abuse.
10. Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the Boogeyman is that he sometimes becomes a convenient tool for legitimate advocates who tire of honest and respectable negotiations. Just bringing the Boogeyman to a meeting is sometimes enough to turn a victim into a benefactor. The Boogeyman’s presence is loaded with this message: “If you don’t want your meeting to get wrecked, your personal foibles on the streets or your values besmirched concede now.” The Boogeyman is the suicide bomber that keeps on ticking. He is a terrorist. His handlers blind themselves to the fact that they are involved in serious moral compromise.
11. The Boogeyman often tells the uncomfortable truth that needs to be told. In those cases, the community must muster the courage to speak honestly together with compassion. We must not rely on the daring irresponsibility of the mean spirited Boogeyman who has nothing to lose. The Boogeyman sees no difference between telling a necessary truth and shaming. It is wrong to affirm a Boogeyman in this way. He has no loyalties. Tomorrow his handler will be his victim.
12. Finally, the Boogeyman is the perfect tool for the dishonest, disingenuous destructive agents. Their formidable symbiotic relationship casts terror in the hearts of their victim/benefactors. They extort with precision in endless cycles of good-cop-bad-cop teamwork.
For all these reasons, the Boogeyman has become a resilient member of our social ecosystem.
When anyone emerges who insists on respectful discourse or who refuses to capitulate in fear to abuse or the demands that quickly follow, that person becomes a threat. If such people are allowed to survive the terror of the Boogeyman, others might see that in reality the Boogeyman is a Wizard of Oz. He is a tiny man who amplifies himself through crude noise and the fear of his opponents.
It is time for the community to change the dank ecosystem that allows this poisonous mushroom to thrive. Let the light of courage in. Drive out the dark night of fear. Let us walk toward each other across the false divides of class, race and origin. Together we can work out our differences without brutal tools. Yes We Can!
- written by Don Samuels, Jordan resident
Ode to the Community “Spokespersons” – Hello. How are you? Won’t you tell us your “Game?”
True community leaders and spokespersons, Councilman Don Samuels and MADDADS VJ Smith hold vigil (on Sunday, January 18, 2008 in front of the abandoned house) for 15 year old Annshalike Hamilton who was seven months pregnant and found dead in a garage on the 22nd block of 4th Street North. No sign of the community “spokespersons” that cried foul at the Jordan Area Community Council press conference on Saturday.
Definition: Leadership: The ability to guide, direct, or influence people
Attention Community Leader(s), Spokespersons,“Frankenstein’s” and poverty pimps;
I don’t know if you’ve noticed that north Minneapolis especially the “City of Minneapolis – N ½ of Section 16-29-24” is suffering from the lack of leadership. Because we have no one to guide, direct or influence people, our community has fallen into a state of moral and economic demise. Members of our community are being killed and no one seems concerned; our homes are going into foreclosure and nothing impactful is being done to save the homes; our neighbors are moving to the suburbs, leaving our communities abandoned, and no one has taken a stand.
As I participated in the vigil for Annshalike Hamilton, the pregnant 15-year-old who was found in an abandoned garage, I realized no one has stood up to question the death of this teen. If she were a young white girl, our city would be up in arms. Then I realized, no one has taken a stand to question the death of Quincy Smith, the young man who was tasered to death by Minneapolis police.
These are two significant events that have gone without an official word from the leaders or “spokespersons” of our community. This silence that seems to have infiltrated our community, has also affected the leaders of community organizations such as Northway Community Trust, Stairstep Foundation, Minneapolis Urban League, NorthPoint and many other organizations inside and outside north Minneapolis purporting to represent the North side. Many have written in the mission statements the words “to help or assist the community” – we know that is not the case.
This is not an attack, but a request for information on how such “spokespersons” have come to be called leaders in the community and yet have not stood up to decry the killings and the economic demise occurring in north Minneapolis.
In the National Black MBA Association-Twin City Chapter 2008 catalog for their Annual Scholarship Gala, held on August 1, 2008 – on page 22 the quote from Isaiah Reese at the top of the page says, “Our stance as a people should be to serve as one common denominator for all not as a separate unit.” For years some of the organizations “spokespersons” have been working as a separate unit not addressing the facts, concerns and issues of north Minneapolis, and discounting African-Americans. The local community organizations are in need of your unique expertise.
Many of the esteemed, distinguished organizations community members turn to you for leaders. But, where are your leaders? How can you lead a fledgling community when you have no history with the community? I must admit that I have not seen any of the people in gala brochure (for the NBMBA-TC) at any meeting or community gathering or making a public statement when an injustice happens to African-Americans in Minneapolis. I have never seen the President or the VP of the Twin Cities Chapter of the National Black MBA Association or the local chair and vice chair for the Urban Financial Services Coalition (based out of Wells Fargo) condemn the killings in the community cry foul the current economic state of north Minneapolis. In fact, in the past two years, I haven’t seen a single Black leader taking a stand against what’s going on in our community. But, our so called “spokespersons” will attend a party or the General Mills MLK Breakfast. I question the ethics behind the process of choosing a leader or “spokesperson”; I challenge theses spokespersons definition of Leader. Before you “flinch” remember I have some history with this subject matter.
I understand that Black people in the Twin Cities get comfortable being comfortable and maybe don’t think they need to address the issues and concerns regarding “those Black folks in north Minneapolis.” But soon, sooner than you think, the issues will directly affect you, your organization and your past actions, or inaction’s. Your inaction will hasten the continued redirection of funding streams, which should be directed toward north Minneapolis – to predominantly White organizations that should have no business conducting outreach in the underserved communities of north Minneapolis.
There is a reason for your inaction. Collaborating with point people and organizations in north Minneapolis could affect your status. With the corruption and lack of deliverables, your organizations could become “transparent” and fall into the same categories we have been speaking about. The “flip side” is that you could be helping the community and don’t want to tell anyone…if that’s the case, God bless you.
I would like to share an applicable piece from W.E.B. DuBois – “The Talented Tenth, from The Negro Problem: A Series of Articles by Representative Negroes of To-day” (New York, 1903), he wrote, “The Negro race, like all races, is going to be saved by its exceptional men. The problem of education, then, among Negroes must first of all deal with the Talented Tenth; it is the problem of developing the Best of this race that they may guide the Mass away from the contamination and death of the Worst, in their own and other races. Now the training of men is a difficult and intricate task. Its technique is a matter for educational experts, but its object is for the vision of seers. If we make money the object of man-training, we shall develop money-makers but not necessarily men; if we make technical skill the object of education, we may possess artisans but not, in nature, men. Men we shall have only as we make manhood the object of the work of the schools—intelligence, broad sympathy, knowledge of the world that was and is, and of the relation of men to it—this is the curriculum of that Higher Education which must underlie true life. On this foundation we may build bread winning, skill of hand and quickness of brain, with never a fear lest the child and man mistake the means of living for the object of life. . . .
In closing, if the north Minneapolis “Spokespersons” are truly a network of business professionals with a commitment to education, career development and promoting the economic wealth of the African-American community, where does the word and the work involving “community” fit in?
Problems continue for the Jordan Area Community Council (JACC)
Former "JACC's", Jerry Moore and Ben Myers
The newly appointed board members of the Jordan Area Community Council (JACC) held a board meeting at 6:00 pm on Wednesday, January 14, at the Jordan Area New Life Community Church, and elected Michael Browne of the Jordan Neighborhood to be the chairperson of the community council. (BRAVO!)
Later that evening sometime after the board meeting’s conclusion, documented reports say someone with a key removed computers, copy machines and two years of files from the community organization’s offices at 2009 James Ave. North. At this report, there were no signs of forced entry into the building.
JACC executive director Jerry Moore has been served a letter of termination from the new board and we expect changes to be made as it pertains to his position with the Northside Marketing Task Force.
In a letter to the community from the former vice-chair of JACC Ben Myers, it states that “The JACC offices have been temporarily moved to Jordan New Life Church.”
In a phone call to executive director of Jordan New Life Hub, Julie Leerssen informing her on the board change, she stated, “I received a call from Ben Myers requesting that Jordan New Life Hub receive the mail for JACC.”
“Lift Every Voice and Sing…Where is the Outcry from our self-appointed African-American leaders?”
Part 4 in a 4-part series titled, “$103,770.00 – Without a Trace”
HEADLINES: A 15-year-old pregnant girl is found dead in north Minneapolis garage; Brooklyn Park Police beat man while children and fiancée lay in the snow… in their underwear; Minneapolis Urban League Fails Community; NorthPoint and the University of Minnesota (Let the “U” take it over, at least we’d have an “end game.”)
"Let the U of M take over NorthPoint, then you won't have to stand guard!"
As the toll on human life mounts in north Minneapolis, I am shocked that no action or verbal commentary has been offered by our “self-appointed” African-American leaders. The only time these leaders respond is when money is involved. These self-appointed leaders are poverty pimps, in my opinion. The dictionary defines “poverty pimp” as any self-appointed leader, usually of a racial or ethnic heritage, who extols the perpetual poorness of his/her ethnicity, yet is quite financially well-off as a result of his/her efforts. Such a “poverty pimp” is usually a reverend of a well-known church, a non-profit organization leader, or a man who sells out the community to the White man and then is seen standing before the TV cameras. Poverty pimps are also people who rely on the White man’s guilt to gain credibility, money and influence, and are usually racists themselves. But beware, poverty pimps are the same people who always show up for development projects in north Minneapolis – you’ve heard the names, they’re at the “table” now (2009).
This apathy, this indifference to the concerns of our community is a serious problem that is rampant on the North side. For example, a pregnant 15-year-old girl was found dead in an abandoned north Minneapolis garage, and no one has expressed outrage or concern. No one in the community has uttered a word about her death. The only communication about her death has been the reports that appeared on the teenager’s high school website, TV and in a suburban newspaper, The Lake Minnetonka Liberty.
The suburban paper featured the story: “Turns out the body found in the garage of some boarded-up property in North Minneapolis earlier this month was that of a pregnant 15-year-old girl who police now say was murdered. The girl has been identified as Annshalike Hamilton of Minneapolis. The property owner found her body inside the garage at 22-22 North Fourth Street on December 15th. The medical examiner says both Hamilton, and the fetus she was carrying, died as a result of blunt force injuries. Police are treating the case as a double-homicide”.
This story was also reported on AM radio WCCO 830. But so far, the long-time north Minneapolis newspaper, Insight News, has not reported or commented on the teen’s death.
On Saturday, January 10, 2009 young Ms. Annshalike Hamilton was laid to rest at funeral services held at St. Philips church in north Minneapolis. (Our condolences go out to her family and her fellow Patrick Henry High School students).
Isn’t it time the community to come together and express our outrage about the toll these heinous crimes and misdeeds take on human lives? Isn’t this teen’s death newsworthy information the community should be informed about?
If Insight News is the “go-to” paper for the African-American community, why has the African-American community been so ill-informed about this teen’s death and other important issues? Instead of telling the story of this teen’s life and unfortunate death, Insight News chose to re-publish a story about the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s (MNDoT) failure to sufficiently hire women and minority contractors. Was it really timely and newsworthy to re-publish this story about MNDot’s hiring practices, which was featured in mainstream media, including Minnesota Public Radio’s (MPR) website? In my opinion, there is never a slow news day in north Minneapolis. Therefore, I question whether news is really the focus of the Insight News “paper.”
No assistance from the Minneapolis Urban League…again!
At 6:30 a.m. on Friday, December 19, 2008, Brooklyn Park police knocked on the door at 6300 82nd Place. As the residents inside the home slept, the police broke a patio-door window and the front door to gain access into the home of Victor Took and his fiancée Courtney Totten and their six children. The children and Took’s fiancée where ordered outside the home and were forced to lay in the snow for nearly 20 minutes with no shoes, shirts or socks while the police beat Took and ransacked his home. After beating Took and destroying his home, the Brooklyn Park police learned that this was a miss-directed tip. The couple’s two-week-old baby was later rushed to the hospital suffering from a respiratory infection. Took’s fiancée telephoned the Minneapolis Urban League to talk to someone about the traumatic event and its affect on her children, and to possibly file charges against the police officers for human rights violations. Ms. Totten said regarding her phone call to the Minneapolis Urban League: “When I call them, they just take your number and never call back. What’s the problem?”
NorthPoint and the University of Minnesota:
A savvy business strategy for the University of Minnesota in 2009 would be to implement a takeover of NorthPoint Health and Wellness Centers (The City of Minneapolis and Hennepin County might go for this). The U, which initially proposed $60 million to partner with NorthPoint to develop a new facility, could give the City of Minneapolis/Hennepin County $10 million for the sale of NorthPoint, which would help ease the City’s deficit. The remaining $50 million could be used to develop the proposed new, innovative center offering resources and access to jobs – a facility never before imagined in north Minneapolis. (Personally, I would love to have a Dairy Queen or Jamba Juice on the North side!)
These are just a few of the examples of how people, organizations and systems have failed north Minneapolis and the African-American community. If our self-appointed African-American leaders continue to be apathetic regarding issues of dire importance to our community, then how will we as a community become socially and economically self-sufficient? In some respects, we residents must blame ourselves for our failure as a community. If we continue to appoint the same people to sit at the table and then demand nothing of them regarding access to jobs, the reinvestment and redevelopment of our community, and improved health care, then we are just as culpable, maybe more culpable than those we appoint to the table. In essence, we’re getting back exactly what we expect of ourselves and our community – nothing!
_________________________________________________
In 2008, the Minneapolis Urban League, Northway Community Trust, the Stairstep Foundation, Jordan Area Community Council, and the African American Men Project did not step up to the plate to address issues or to coordinate efforts to add value for the life’s of the north Minneapolis residents. We need new people with fresh ideas that believe in action. As of January 2009, we don’t own any Banks, Hotels, Airlines or Car Dealerships.
Do the Minneapolis Urban League and other agencies have a contingency plan for 2009?
Open Letter to the General Mills Foundation from the Independent Business News Network
Dear Ms. Luger,
After reading your letter dated January 6, 2009 which was sent to the Independent Business News Network (IBNN), it is apparent that the General Mills Foundation doesn’t really understand, nor truly comprehend the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s writings or mission, which includes one of his last goals for the African-American community, a goal that he outlined in a book published before he was shot and killed, which highlighted the key to success in poor communities was economic development.
Actually, few people have heard of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s last book titled, Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?” released in 1967, but applicable in 2009 as a way to examine the grant giving practices of the General Mills Foundation. Dr. King Jr. writes the following:
“In the treatment of poverty nationally, one fact stands out: there are twice as many white poor as Negro poor in the United States. Therefore I will not dwell on the experiences of poverty that derive from racial discrimination, but will discuss the poverty that affects white and Negro alike.
Up to recently we have proceeded from a premise that poverty is a consequence of multiple evils: lack of education restricting job opportunities; poor housing which stultified home life and suppressed initiative; fragile family relationships which distorted personality development. The logic of this approach suggested that each of these causes be attacked one by one. Hence a housing program to transform living conditions, improved educational facilities to furnish tools for better job opportunities, and family counseling to create better personal adjustments were designed. In combination these measures were intended to remove the causes of poverty.
While none of these remedies in itself is unsound, all have a fatal disadvantage. The programs have never proceeded on a coordinated basis or at a similar rate of development. Housing measures have fluctuated at the whims of legislative bodies. They have been piecemeal and pygmy. Educational reforms have been even more sluggish and entangled in bureaucratic stalling and economy-dominated decisions. Family assistance stagnated in neglect and then suddenly was discovered to be the central issue on the basis of hasty and superficial studies. At no time has a total, coordinated and fully adequate program been conceived. As a consequence, fragmentary and spasmodic reforms have failed to reach down to the profoundest needs of the poor.
In addition to the absence of coordination and sufficiency, the programs of the past all have another common failing — they are indirect. Each seeks to solve poverty by first solving something else.”
We are likely to find that the problems of housing and education, instead of preceding the elimination of poverty, will themselves be affected if poverty is first abolished. The poor transformed into purchasers will do a great deal on their own to alter housing decay. Negroes, who have a double disability, will have a greater effect on discrimination when they have the additional weapon of cash to use in their struggle.”
To celebrate the legacy and life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr is to focus on the last piece of his legacy — economic development. Black people are not happy just sit at the lunch counter; today, we want to own the lunch counter!
The General Mills Foundation’s practice of “perpetual” grant giving is a feeble attempt to solve problems from the top down in north Minneapolis (rather than applying sound business practices from the bottom up). For 14 years, communities in north Minneapolis have seen virtually no change in the socio-economic status of the people, a majority who are of African-American descent, living day-to-day within in this underserved region of Minneapolis. The fact that no significant and recognizable social or economic advancement has occurred in the north Minneapolis communities is most evident in the Minneapolis Public School System where the failure rate for Black youth exceeds the combined totals for Mississippi, Kentucky and Alabama.
If giving grants to organizations that focus on education and the success of the youth of Minneapolis, how could this academic failure occur? A wise man once said: “You can’t just water the tree; you also must take care of the roots.” The General Mills Foundation has been simply watering the tree, without tending to the roots. In other words, the Foundation has been comfortable granting dollars to the same individuals and the same organizations year after year, rather than taking the time to speak with the true stakeholders in north Minneapolis. As a result, nothing identifiable with change has taken place in 14 years. And if the process doesn’t change, this lack of change will perpetuate.
The current trend in north Minneapolis reveals a community in demise — social, economic and educational demise. Examples of the community’s demise: in 2007, five elementary schools in north Minneapolis were closed; more than 1700 home foreclosures occurred in 2007 and 2008. In 2009, the City of Minneapolis will close additional parks besides Bethune and Willard, the two parks scheduled to close in 2009. If the Foundation was more strategically focused on how its “grant dollars” were disseminated, these types of devastating occurrences, which ultimately reduce the social worth and economic value of a community, could be avoided. By working to prevent such demise, the General Mills Foundation would be able to pinpoint tangible examples of what the Foundation has done to rehabilitate blighted communities in north Minneapolis. The headline could have read, “General Mills Foundation Saves Inner-City Park from Closure!” Instead, there is another headline, “More Silence in North Minneapolis with the Closing of Inner City Parks.”
On Thursday, January 8, 2009 at the Hawthorn Huddle, you presented three very effective examples of community engagement organizations that partner with several other entities to achieve their missions. My advice to you and the General Mills Foundation is to meet with north Minneapolis stakeholders and work from the bottom up with those who are truly interested in solving the challenges that face north Minneapolis. (Dog and pony shows are only exciting at the state fair).
Regarding your statement that the General Mills Foundation contributed nearly $15 million to programs focusing on communities of color in 2008, I am unsure if you meant in Minneapolis
or the United States. What I do know is that the General Mills Foundation gives to the Susan G. Koman Foundation’s Walk for the Cure, which in turn grants money to Planned Parenthood, a group that is helping inadvertently to kill many black children. Secondly, I know the General Foundation’s media spending for diverse audiences is lacking in the Minneapolis/St. Paul market. You respond to the Foundation’s media spending by saying: “…for competitive reasons, I cannot disclose the amounts.” I reply to your comment by saying the following: “If there is no level playing field, there can never be any competition.”
The fact that the General Mills Foundation refuses to consider local radio, print and TV that are minority-ethnic owned, or a radio station that is White-owned but plays music targeted to an African-American audience is evidence that General Mills, Inc. and the General Mills Foundation have opted to ignore solid reach and frequency solely because of the “color” of a format.
In closing, this is the time of the year we celebrate the birthday of one of the world’s great leaders — the Revered Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In keeping with his sprit and goals, I like to refresh your memory of Dr. King’s objective in Memphis, Tennessee at the time he was assassinated. His objective was to secure better wages and working conditions for garbage workers. I emphasize the words GARBAGE WORKERS to highlight the fact that he was fighting for and died for the “Least of Thee”.
Dr. King states in his “I Have A Dream” speech that “…America has given the (Blacks) people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.”
I refuse to believe that General Mills, Inc. or the General Mills Foundation is providing our community a check marked “insufficient funds.” My parents were happy sitting at the lunch counter; today, my generation wants to own the lunch counter.
Very best regards,
Donald W.R. Allen, II
The Poverty Pimp’s Poem
By Thomas Sowell (Capitalism Magazine)
MY FELLOW-ECONOMIST WALTER WILLIAMS has for years kept track of how much money it would take to lift every American man, woman and child in poverty above the official poverty level. That sum has consistently been some fraction of the money actually spent in “anti-poverty” programs. In other words, if you gave every poor person enough money to stop being poor that would cost a fraction of what our welfare state programs and bureaucracies cost.
Obviously, a lot of anti-poverty money is going to people who are not poor. There are whole classes of people who live off the poor — or rather, off the vast sums of money that are poured out from the public treasury and private philanthropy, in hopes of helping the poor.
Those who intercept the money intended for the poor have been aptly called “poverty pimps.” The poor are a commodity to these people, who include not only local politicians, community activists and small-time hustlers, but also people with impressive titles and academic credentials, who likewise milk the larger society, in the name of the poor.
At the top of the food chain, as it were, are Ivy League professors who rake in big-time research grants to support themselves and their cronies while they are studying, romanticizing or otherwise exploiting the poor. The poem below is about such people, who are as much poverty pimps as politicians who simply pocket graft from poverty programs or collect votes for promoting lucrative boondoggles.
THE POVERTY PIMPS’ POEM
Let us celebrate the poor,
Let us hawk them door to door.
There’s a market for their pain,
Votes and glory and money to gain.
Let us celebrate the poor.
Their ills, their sins, their faulty diction
Flavor our songs and spice our fiction.
Their hopes and struggles and agonies
Get us grants and consulting fees.
Celebrate thugs and clowns,
Give their ignorance all renown.
Celebrate what holds them down,
In our academic gowns.
Let us celebrate the poor.
Jordan Area Community Council Executive Director and Northside Marketing Task Force Chairman go on rampage at board meeting and assaults community members
In a rampage during the Jordan Area Community Council (JACC) Board meeting Monday night, January 12, the JACC Executive Director and Northside Marketing Task Force Chair Jerry Moore assaulted community members, Megan G., Dennis W. and P.J. During the meeting, the JACC Board was re-tooled with new members who were voted in by the community.
The new JACC Board includes David Haddy, Todd Heintz, Tyrone Jaramillo, Robert Hodson, Anne McCandless and Vladimir Monroe.
Keep in mind, wasn’t it the Independent Business News Network (IBNN) that first penned an article on December 8, 2008 stating that Jerry Moore should relinquish his position with JACC and the task force.
An eyewitness recounts what happened at the meeting: “Unfortunately, Jerry snapped and lost his mind Monday night. He started swinging punches at a man who had ‘pushed his buttons’ so to speak*. He didn’t really make contact with the man because the man was walking away to avoid a fight. A few people, including myself, ran over to get in between Jerry and the man to keep them apart. Jerry then turned his rage on me, pushing me back and swinging at me. Two other men saw Jerry putting his hands on a woman; they jumped in between Jerry and the woman to get control of Jerry. Jerry then turned his rage on one of them. At this point, Jerry really started throwing punches closed fist punches – that made contact with one man before people were able to get Jerry under control. Three people, including myself, were on the phone with 911. When Jerry realized the police were on the way, he ran out the back exit out of the building. Police came and took statements and will turn it over to an investigator.
*Pushing Jerry’s buttons means: A community member was asking tough questions of Jerry during the question and answer period of the board meeting.
(The woman that was asking the questions about where is the money going for our youth – she was Miss Champion – Bobby Jo Champion’s sister ( or so she claims) – she was asking these questions to elected officials – NOT TO JERRY – she was asking in a vague/general manner, not about specific money.) The community member’s questions focused on “where all of the money was going for our youth?” Another community member had written a note stating that the board must question Jerry Moore, the executive director, to find out what has been done with the money, and what does the community have to show for it. After the meeting was over, while people were cleaning up and milling around, a woman began asking Jerry about the money and Jerry was responding. Then a gentleman identified as the community member who began ‘pushing Jerry’s buttons’ walked over and joined the conversation. He then said: “Jerry, you are the executive director, why don’t you show this woman the financial records and show her where the money is Jerry?” As he asked the question, he patted Jerry on the back sarcastically. (I want to make it clear that it was not a sincere pat on the back; it was not an “atta boy” pat on the back). In fact, Jerry’s friends at the meeting were saying that this ‘button-pushing-man’ actually hit Jerry three times on the back. It wasn’t a “hit”. It wasn’t consensual but it wasn’t a hit. If Jerry had said “don’t touch me” and the man continued to touch him, that may have changed the outcome, but Jerry didn’t say that, he just started swinging.”
There has been growing commentary in the community for sometime about alleged miss-management taking place within the Jordan Area Community Council, as well as alleged financial payoffs (See http://ibnn.org/?p=393, Todd Barnes/Front Street Marketing) Jerry Moore has made to friends and colleagues for work that was never fulfilled for JACC.
Another JACC Board meeting will be held at Jordan New Life Church 1922 25th Avenue North on Wednesday, January 14, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. The community is invited and encouraged to attend.
University of Minnesota to offer a free ACT/SAT review course for “at risk” students targeting minority and female high school students
College admission tests often operate as gatekeepers that deny equal educational opportunities to certain groups of students. In 1991, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. joined forces with the University of Minnesota to offer a free ACT/SAT review course for “at risk” students targeting minority and female high school students. The 2009 edition of this course will begin:
Date: Saturday, January 10, 2009
Time: 9:00am to 1:00pm
Duration: Ten (10) weeks
Location: Blegen Hall, RM # 5, (first meeting – West Bank, University of Minnesota)
*Register Early! Space is limited and slots not guaranteed!
The review consists of six facets: a) content areas of admission tests, b) test-taking skills, c) practice – students take eight (8) tests that are scored and returned with diagnostic information, d) advising, e) personal factors such as time management, test anxiety, and study skills, f) college application process as well as aspects of being a successful college student. A summary of this year’s program is as follows:
January 10 ……………….. Welcome / College Admissions Workshop
January 17 …………………. Princeton Review Assessment
January 24 …………………. Vocabulary / Study Skills Workshop / Financial Aid
January 31 …………………. Mathematics Workshop ng Workshop
February 14 …………………. Data Representation / Motivation / Item Formats
February 21 ………………… Reading Workshop
February 28 …………………. English Workshop
March 7 …………………. Writing Workshop / Evaluation / Pizza Party
March 14 …………………. Mock ACT Test
For further information regarding this program, please contact Mr. Gareth Phillips at the ACT/SAT program office (612) 626-1662 or Dr. Ernest Davenport at (612) 624-1040. You can pre-register by sending your name, address, telephone number, name of current school, and grade level to email address: actsat@umn.edu (preferred) or fax to Dr. Ernest Davenport at (612) 624-8241.
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