Common Knowledge

The Evil Empires!

"Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge even where there is no river."

                                                               Nikita Khrushchev

"Great spirits have always encountered opposition from mediocre minds.  The mediocre mind is incapable of understanding the man who refuses to bow blindly to conventional prejudices and chooses instead to express his opinions courageously and honestly."

                                                                Albert Einstein

         

         Should Black folks stop voting along party lines?  Wait!  Before any of you folks out there start looking for me or branding me a "sell out" or a republican please keep reading.  I am none of the aforementioned, but I feel compelled to ask the question.  Think about it.  African-Americans are the most loyal democrats.  Yet, a great many issues continue to go unresolved in our communities.

         We need to start voting for candidates based solely on issues not party affiliation.  We must rethink this two party voting scheme that the democrats and republicans have sold to the rest of the country.

         The two parties have brainwashed us into believing that we have only two choices instead of the the different and unique choices of individual candidates for every race for every office.  We need new blood in our community.  We need fresh ideas and a source of revitalized energy to tackle issues in our community.  We will not get that with the current system in place.  The two party system leads to slogans instead of solutions.  It leads to a brand name type of process of choosing public officials, which leads to electing political hacks.  And it typically leads to a good ole boys network that suffocates independent, free thinking, results dedicated candidates regardless of whether the candidate is a democrat, republican, or an independent.

         The political landscape in Chicago is an example of that very phenomenon.  Several barriers have been erected to prevent candidates that do not have the political organization or the connected political friends from getting on the ballot.  Chicago has a 25,000 signature requirement to get on the ballot to run for a citywide office.  This requirement is 2.5 times the signature requirement it takes to get on the ballot in Illinois to run for the President of the United States and 5 times the signature requirement to get on the ballot to run for Governor of the entire state of Illinois!  Who created that outrageous disparity?  The Illinois General Assembly.  The voice of the people.  Right?  What is the reason for the huge disparity?  Well, it appears to me to be designed to give incumbents and party cronies an advantage.

         Democrats and republicans are not only fighting over philosophical differences.  They are fighting for dominance of the political arena.  Both want to create and maintain as many "safe" districts, cities, counties, or states as possible where they have complete control of every office.  Both have done that in some places in this country.  The republicans have been successful in creating and maintaining "safe" districts in rural areas and the democrats have been successful in creating and maintaining "safe" districts in cities.  It is in these "safe" districts that our communities are harmed the greatest because many potentially good public officials are choked out of being able to have a decent shot at getting elected in favor of political hacks, cronies and politicians whose main loyalty is to the party boss that sponsored their campaign.  This process maintains the same old leadership which maintains the same old priorities which results in the same old stagnation in government.

         "Safe" districts like Chicago and so on are breeding grounds for political corruption because of the huge power that incumbents and party insiders hold.  Anyone that wants to run for office has to kiss the ring of one or more members from the established party structure in order to have a realistic chance of being elected to an office regardless of how qualified, creative, or suited that person is for that office or if that person does not bow down and kiss the ring then they are faced with a Herculean task that could drain their life savings and even threaten their careers.  This leads to the election of political hacks.  We have a solution to this situation.  It is simple.  We should elect or retain only those public officials that articulate and are ready to provide solutions to our issues.  If they can do that they stay. If they can not, then it must be out with the old and in with the new.  But we can not, we must not continue to go for the same old okie doke by electing cronies and hacks from political machines.  As long as we continue to elect people whose primary loyalty is to the established dominant political party as opposed to the voters in their districts, we will continue to have corrupt politicians and administrations.  Yes.  The names will change.  The faces will change, but the actions will stay the same.

To The Unheralded Brothers Out There: Happy Father's Day

“By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he's wrong.”
Charles Wadsworth

“The central struggle of parenthood is to let our hopes for our children outweigh our fears.”
Ellen Goodman

“Some men just aren't cut out for paternity. Better they should realize it before and not after they become responsible for a son.”
Lois McMaster Bujold

Yesterday was Father’s Day and as a son and a father I feel compelled to write an article about the important men in my life. First I must mention my father, Alfred Beals. He was a southern transplant from Orange, Texas that found his way to the Southside of Chicago. My father was many things. He was an entrepreneur. He was some one that felt deeply for his community. And He was my hero and in many respects he still is. If my dad walked a certain way, I wanted to walk that way. If someone said he had an accent, I wanted to have that same accent. When I was little, my mother cooked a steak dinner for the family. My father loved steak. He also loved to use steak sauce on his steak so of course I had to try it on my steak. As a very young boy, steak sauce did not agree with my taste buds, but I ate every last bit of my steak just so I could be like my dad. Well, I never got an opportunity to get to know my dad as a man because unfortunately my dad passed away a little before my ninth birthday.

My dad taught many lessons that I have tried to pass on two my two daughters. He taught me the value of learning and the value of getting my education. Yes. They are two different things, but that is an article for another day. My father did not go to college and he had to work hard to even attend high school so he could not understand how a child that only has to go to school and does not have to work could bring home any grade less than a B. He taught me to be proud of who I am and to be very confident. He taught me the value of hard work and to never allow myself the luxury of letting others make me feel that I was less than them. But I guess the biggest thing he taught me was self confidence and an expectation of success in my future. Dad. I wish I had the fortune to have known you as a man, but I am so glad that I was blessed enough to have at least had nearly nine years to have shared with you.

I was also blessed with several uncles who took an interest in me, my brother, and sisters. My uncles Bobby, Billy, James, and John all spent time with us, especially after my father passed away. My uncle Bobby particularly stepped up and filled the void for my brother and I that was left by my father’s passing. I was about nine years old and my brother was about eleven years old when my father passed away. We were not the “leave it to Beaver” twins. My brother and I were like a lot of young brothers. We needed male guidance and example. My uncles helped to provide that example, especially my uncle Bobby. My uncle Bobby did not lecture my brother and me. He did not try to play dad to us. He just spent time with my brother, me and my cousins and by doing that he provided needed male example for all of us. If I learned lessons from my dad through direction, I can easily say I learned lessons from my uncle Bobby by example. I learned that whereas it may take the heart of a lion to stand up to a bully, it takes the heart of a hero to get back up everyday when life knocks you down. Bobby had no problems doing either. I learned dependability, courage, trustworthiness, strength, and what it really means to be a man from my uncle Bobby. He was there at my high school graduation, my college graduation, when I was sworn into the bar of the State of Illinois and all the times in between. Bobby, Billy, James, and John, I know you all are not much on receiving accolades, but thank you for being there for me, Stephen, Jimmy, Parrish, and Henry. And I love you all.

This father’s day I count my blessings for having had a dad and for having had and still having uncles that were there for me. I am not perfect. I have made many mistakes, but I can say that what little I have accomplished in my life I owe to people like my mother, my father, my uncles, and my aunts.

Don't Lose Focus

“I have come to the conclusion that politics are too serious of a matter to be left to the politicians.”

--Charles De Gaulle--

“Power never takes a back step - only in the face of more power.”

--Malcolm X--

I had planned on writing about the state of our community since the time of Booker T. Washington, but I feel that I must follow-up on last week’s article. A few days ago I read a letter to the editor in the Chicago Defender Newspaper. An inmate in the federal detention center wrote the Defender to challenge the federal elected officials from our community to address the disparities between crack versus powder cocaine in the federal sentencing guidelines. I must say that I agree.

Last week I wrote about how our elected officials should not allow friendship, affinity or animosity towards the Latino community, proponents, or opponents of immigration reform to prevent them from continuing to develop and advocate for laws and policies that address issues in our community. Well, I think the person who wrote the letter in the Defender last week made a far better point than I did last week so I feel a need to write a follow-up article in order to make my point clearer and more direct.

I do not pretend to know everything that happens behind closed doors in the United States Senate, the House of Representatives or in any of the state houses across the country but I do know that several laws and policies that adversely affect people in our community that appears to be unfair are still in effect today and I have seen or heard of only a few debates in the media regarding changing those laws or policies. What am I talking about? I am talking about laws and policies such as the 100 to 1 disparity between crack versus powder cocaine that is in the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. I am talking about the idiotic law that could prohibit anyone that has a conviction of a drug offense on their record from receiving federal financial aide. I am talking about the law in various states that disenfranchises people that committed a felony even though they have already served their debt to society. I am talking about the reality that our communities will continue to have to absorb thousands of ex-felons every year without adequate programs in place to provide meaningful employment opportunities for the ex-felons in order to create an environment to eliminate or decrease recidivism. (Although I must admit that I have heard of a few programs in Illinois that are designed to try to address this problem.) I am talking about protecting funding for federal and state programs that encourage and provide entrepreneurial opportunities in our community. In essence I am talking about making sure our elected officials keep their focus on addressing issues that are paramount in our community.

I have to speak it plain. I do not see elected officials from our community advocating to change or create laws, policies or programs that will make a difference in the day to day lives of most African-Americans. I do see some of our elected officials in the paper, on television or I hear them on the radio engaging in partisan debates about the latest hot button issue that preoccupies the interest of the media. If they are not delivering tangible results to our communities then that must change. We must see more results or we must starting thinking about making our own regime changes at the ballot boxes in our neighborhoods.

We must continue to remind our elected officials of why they were elected. We can no longer allow of officials to let political affiliation, friendship, or a need to be a part of the latest political debate to deter them from addressing the issues in our community. I want to be clear about what I am writing about. I am not asserting that any elected official by our community must only speak on issues of the most importance to our community. Elected officials are politicians and politicians are interested in maintaining their career in politics. The broader a politician’s appeal and the more publicity a politician can get the better his/her chances are of maintaining a long and successful career in politics. There is nothing wrong with that. However, there is something wrong with us forgetting or refusing to keep our elected officials focused on what is important to us. Right now the issue that is all over the political shows is immigration reform. Tomorrow it may be a constitutional amendment to define marriage as between a man and a woman and who knows what it will be the day after that. We can not allow any of those issues to distract us from what many of us must deal with in our various communities everyday.

Friend, Foe or Ally?

"The enemy of my enemy is not necessarily my friend.  He or she is my ally and allies change depending on who I am fighting."

                                                          --Bart E. Beals--

         Immigration reform is a hot button issue that has divided much of the country.  This division has also seeped into our community.  According to each side of the debate where you stand on the issue defines what kind of person you are.  If you are for immigration reform then you are either a progressive person that is not blinded by fear and racism or you are a weak liberal that will allow foreigners to trample on our country's laws as they invade our country to take away jobs from our citizens.  If you are against immigration reform then you are either a racist conservative that is more interested in protecting the real evil-doers that hire the illegal workers or you are a person that respects the law and wants to protect our country's culture (whatever that means) and our job base.  Although the African-American community has not completely fallen prey to that level of hyperbole there is a similar division in our community on the issue of immigration reform.  This article is not about the merits of immigration reform.  This article is about how our elected officials must steer clear of the hyperbole and act on issues not emotion.  They also must engage allies to deliver policies that will improve employment and economic opportunities in our community.

         Although it may not seem like it, the immigration debate is essentially a debate about jobs, wages, and economics.  The truth is that our economy needs cheap labor and we usually get cheap labor from immigrants.  It is a symbiotic relationship.  Immigrants come to this country because of our higher standard of living and for perceived opportunity.  Many businesses depend on that steady flow of cheap labor to make a profit (some will argue that the businesses can make a profit without the cheap labor, but they prefer the cheap labor in order to make more profit).  Immigrant labor also has an additional bonus for business interests since they may be less likely to advocate for their labor and employment rights pursuant to local, state and federal law particularly if the immigrant is working in this country illegally.  People coming to this country to find opportunity is not normally a problem.  The problem arises when immigrants that come into the country illegally are no longer employed.  The companies receive the benefit of the cheap labor source, but is not a part of the equation for what to do with that person after they are no longer employed by them.  Is it fair that the people that provide the incentive for immigrants to come into his country illegally to be able to reap the benefit of their cheap labor while avoiding the punishment of encouraging unlawful behavior?  However, is it also fair that people who have broken the law should receive amnesty because big business needs their cheap labor, when there are hundreds of thousands of African-Americans that are in prison because of a nonviolent drug possession offense that will never receive amnesty?  It is these opposite sides of the debate that has created a division within the African-American community.

         Yet, many of "us" in the African-American community are taken aback by the shape and imagery of the immigration reform debate. Many of us feel uncomfortable about how Hispanics are portrayed as the only group of people that enter this country illegally.  The majority of us that are law abiding citizens know how it feels to be targeted as criminals on the basis of our skin, even though we have not committed nor do we ever intend to commit any crimes.  That is probably why many African-Americans feel a certain level of empathy towards the Hispanic community and proponents of immigration reform.  However, as I alluded to earlier, we can not allow our empathy to keep us from advocating for policies that address issues of importance in our community.

          There is tension between the African-American and Hispanic communities in many cities in this country because of competition for jobs.  I am not an expert nor do I profess to speak for either community regarding our relationship on a national basis, but I can speak about my experiences in Chicago.  In Chicago there is tension between the African-American and Hispanic communities because of competition for jobs particularly in the construction industry, local government, and the food service industry.  However, just like our elected officials should not let our empathy deter our focus on advocating for policies that addresses our issues so should our elected officials not allow any tensions between our communities to prevent us from forming alliances with their community to address issues in both communities when possible. 

         Why is this important?  It is important because politics is already filled with to much emotional hot buttons that are designed to distort the real issues in order to bamboozle people into voting their fears instead of their interests.  We can no longer allow that to happen.  The media loves heated spirited debates.  It keeps ratings up, but it dampens real debate.  We have too many issues to address to afford ourselves the luxury of ignorance or the tax of blindness that is triggered by fear, hate or anger.  And as long as no one or no group is ready to step out and present the issues in a meaningful and productive fashion then their will always be other groups or individuals that will be more than happy to stir up the country's pot of emotions in order to get attention, ratings or to muddy the issue in order to get you to vote your fear not your interest.

         We can not afford to continue to allow debates on important issues to be taken over by groups that want to tap into our emotions in order to get "us" to support their interests without reflecting on our own.  We also can not afford to base our alliances on just friendships or past tensions.  We have way too many issues in our community that needs to be addressed.  Sometimes we will ally ourselves with people we would normally call friends and sometimes we ally ourselves with people we normally would call our enemies in order to bring solutions to our community.