Common Knowledge

Patriotism Outweighs Politics?

“Son, always tell the truth. Then you'll never have to remember what you said the last time.”

--Sam Rayburn--

“Repetition does not transform a lie into a truth.”

--Franklin D. Roosevelt--

“Examine what is said, not him who speaks.”

--Arab Proverb--

“The palest ink is better than the best memory.”

--Chinese Proverb--

After watching the events of the past week and half unfold I must deviate from my usual format and comment on the current controversy in Washington, D.C. When I think about the current events in Washington, I can not help but to think about an old saying that states, “fool me once, shame on you; folk me twice, shame on me.” It will be more than just a shame if the American people are not given the truth about whether people from President Bush’s Administration have once again put politics above principles.

I remember when this President was running for his current office and declared that he would “return honesty and integrity to the White House.” It is time for him to do exactly that by telling the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

For the record I am not a fan of party politics. Sometimes it seems that party politics foster more hot air than anything else. Way too often we the people are forced to pay attention to events that really do not have much of an effect on “us” but are used as tools by one political gang to smear another political gang for political booty in the form of control of the House of Representatives or the Senate. And it does not matter whether the political gang is democrats or republicans. Well, this current situation is different.

The impending showdown between congress and the President is not really about scoring political points. It is not about gaining more seats in the House of Representatives or the Senate for democrats or republicans. It is not even about President Bush preserving some semblance of a legacy. For the people of this country it is about preserving the credibility of our democracy.

There will always be political parties, but there must always be one standard of justice. There will always be political factions vying for power, but the one in power must never lose sight of the responsibility to choose what is best for the country over what is best for his/her party.

I have to be honest. I did not vote for our President in 2000 or 2004. I never trusted him or his administration so maybe I am a bit biased, but that does not change my opinion that President Bush’s Administration has repeatedly placed politics above what is best for the country. How can I make such a claim? Think about it.

The country was told that there were weapons of mass destruction in order to convince us that it was necessary to send our fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, siblings, and children into harms way. Yet, there were no weapons of mass destruction and no one from the current administration had to come before Congress look them in the eye and tell the truth about why we really went to war in Iraq.

When a CIA operative was exposed by our own media we were told that no one from this administration had anything to do with the “accidental” exposure of the operative and if they did they would be fired. And no one knew anything before it became a criminal investigation, then the stories changed. Someone from his administration was involved, although he was not indicted, and he was not fired. Now, we find out that it is possible that some people from this administration may decided to fire some U.S. Attorneys because they put the rule of law over party loyalty. And this administration has the unmitigated gall to act as if they are not required to give an open, honest, and complete explanation to the country on the record!

I will be the first to say that there are two sides to every story and I will not rush to judgment on this current matter, but that does not change the fact that this administration must come clean and give the country an explanation. The only way they can credibly do that is to do it on the record.

There is nothing wrong with a President being the leader of his/her party. There is nothing wrong with a President having a political agenda that he/she attempts to progress through open and honest means. However, there is something very wrong with any politician or his/her administration that attempts to hijack the resources of the government by lying to the public for the sole purpose of scoring political points for his/her party. That is wrong and when it involves using this country’s justice system to do that it is outrageous! Maybe this administration is guilty of such an outrage or may it is not. We the people will never know unless the pertinent people give their side of the story in an open and honest fashion, which means it must be on the record.

Mr. President, it is time that your administration lived up to the standards promised by you when you originally sought your office and gave us the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

There Is No Substitute For Results

Ignorance is the night of the mind, but a night without moon and star.
--Confucius--

History is the witness that testifies to the passing of time; it illumines reality, vitalizes memory, provides guidance in daily life and brings us tidings of antiquity.
--Cicero--

Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve.
--George Bernard Shaw--

Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles.
--Ambrose Bierce--

A lot can happen in a generation. It only took one generation to take the double V from a campaign slogan of freedom to the beginning of our path to equality. During one generation our people went from Dred Scott to the Appomattox Court House. In one generation we went from Jackie Robinson fighting just to be able to compete to Hank Aaron proving that he is the greatest. In one generation we went from a few “negroes” in congress to a Congressional Black Caucus. Yet, so many of “us’ in Chicago’s third ward are still willing to give the current alderman another four years to do what she has failed to do in over a generation. The people of the third ward are still waiting for meaningful development.

Fours years ago when the current alderman was challenged by a better educated, more creative, and more qualified challenger she pulled an ace from up her sleeve. She played the race card. Before anyone gets the wrong idea, her challenger was not of a different race. But that did not stop her. I also must state that there is a difference between being proud to be black and zealously representing your community’s interests and hollering race to get reelected. One delivers results another excuses. The incumbent alderman claimed that her challenger would give the neighborhood away to white folks. She claimed that her challenger was nothing more than a crony for the University of Chicago. The incumbent alderman claimed that she was on a mission to save the community for black folks. Yet, the incumbent alderman has yet to articulate a meaningful plan to make sure the neighborhood is “saved” for black people. The proof is in the pudding and there has been no pudding in the third ward in over twenty years.

Racial politics is nothing new to this country. It started the moment that the first indentured servant of African ancestry was treated differently than an indentured servant of European ancestry. Since then it has been used to elect a countless number of politicians instead of statesmen. There is no room for it in our community especially in Bronzeville where we are standing at the crossroads of history. It is past time to put up or shut up. Our leaders have an opportunity to build a Mecca or usher in the dismantling of our neighborhood. Without a plan the latter is bound to happen.

If history is to be my judge for who should be entrusted with the mission to Mecca, then I must choose Pat Dowell over Dorothy Tillman. I will explain. First, regarding commercial development the third ward is not much better off today than it was over twenty years ago. I have seen precious little from Dorothy Tillman in the way of results in the past twenty plus years since she has been in office. Her supporter asserts that the current alderman has created a large number of TIFs. Okay, maybe I am not a community planner (by the way, Pat Dowell used to be one), but isn’t the ultimate purpose of a TIF to bring money into a neighborhood/ward to spur development? If that is the case, then where is the development? The last time I checked on various websites, the third ward still has one of the largest numbers of empty lots. How is that helping to save the neighborhood for black people? Some development is occurring in the third ward due to gentrification, but I have seen no indication by the crews and companies that are doing the construction that the neighborhood is being “saved” for black folks.

The last time I checked, the third ward still did not have a major grocery store. The last time I checked the only think coming out of the “Official Blues District” was silence since there is a dearth of restaurants, jazz and blues clubs on 47th street or any other major street in the third ward (the only two restaurants that I am aware of and make sure I patronize are the Negro League Café and Blu 47). By the way, a few signs claiming the blues district does not make it into a reality. This is particularly distressing since 43rd and 47th streets used to be the home of several historical jazz and blues places. And I am not going to even talk about the issues surrounding the Harold Washington Center.

Furthermore, I have experienced first hand Dorothy Tillman’s lack of responsiveness to the community. I first experienced it as a young organizer working with churches in Bronzeville ten years ago. I tried to get an audience with Mrs. Tillman to discuss strategies for combating drug traffic in and around a couple of the churches in her ward. She blew me off. I then brought a few of the church leaders to one of her ward meetings in an effort to meet with her to no avail. I approached Alderman Preckwinkle with the same concerns in her ward and she found the time to be very helpful, which lead to good results. I have been a resident of the third ward for nearly six years and I have neighbors with similar stories of lack of responsiveness from her office.

I do not have anything personally against Dorothy Tillman. I just have no confidence that she has the vision, wisdom, or plan to help make Bronzeville into what it can be. That is why I am supporting Pat Dowell. I have known Pat Dowell for ten years. She has been dedicated to the community since back when she was working to make it a better place at Mid South.

An incumbent alderman that has been in office long enough to see children born and mature into independent adults has an incredible advantage. She should be able to march any supporter of her challenger down 43rd, 47th, 51st, etc and show them how she has transformed a blighted neighborhood into an oasis for African-American culture, political power, and economic independence. She should be able to speak precisely and intelligently about her vision to continue the rebirth of the neighborhood. She should be able to bludgeon any challenger with an array of past solutions to issues in the community and goals of issues still to be addressed. Instead, Mrs. Tillman has relied on fear mongering and excuses. When I was in college I learned an old saying about excuses. It went something like this: “excuses are the tools of the incompetent that build bridges to nowhere and those that use them are monuments of nothingness.” Right now as I gaze out over the third ward, I still see way too much nothingness. That could change on April 17th.

Bronzeville

“First it is necessary to stand on your own two feet. But the minute a man finds himself in that position, the next thing he should do is reach out his arms.”

--Kristin Hunter--

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

--Margaret Mead--

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

--Malcolm X--

A few weeks ago I wrote about the third ward and the challenges that it faces in the coming years. This article is about a larger neighborhood than just the third ward. This article is about Bronzeville.

Bronzeville is the oldest African-American neighborhood in Chicago. It drips with history. The neighborhood includes large segments of the third, fourth, fifth, and some of the sixth and second wards. It stretches from twenty-second street on the north to somewhere around sixty-seventh on the south (some people say it only goes as far as sixty-third street). It spans from state street to the west to cottage grove on the eastern end of Bronzeville.

The neighborhood literarily grew from a small strip of a few streets (hence the original name the “Black Belt”) into a large thriving community that produced music, culture and history. Great literary works like “Native Son” and “Raisin in the Sun” were penned in Bronzeville. Bronzeville was the basket of jazz and later blues in Chicago. It was also the birth place of the northern African-American political power base. The first African-American congressman from a northern city was elected out of Bronzeville; as a matter of fact Bronzeville is the home to the congressional district that has been represented by an African-American congressman for the longest continual time (the 1st Congressional District which is currently represented by Bobby Rush).

African-American culture throughout this country has been greatly advanced by the contributions of Bronzeville residents. Yet that changed once the restrictive housing covenants that created Bronzeville were slowly broken down through legal and political means. Bronzeville suffered urban blight like many inner city neighborhoods after desegregation because many of the upper and middle class African-American families fled to other neighborhoods farther out in the city or to the suburbs. Now, the money is coming back to Bronzeville.

Bronzeville is currently experiencing a rebirth. The only question is whether it will be reborn into a modern image of its old glory or whether it will become just another nondescript upscale neighborhood that has little resemblance to it s past self? Only time will tell – well sort of. The truth is the African-American community has a grand opportunity to help shape a community that can once again be a Mecca for African-American culture, political power, and even an incubator for an economic revolution! I am not exaggerating. I am not selling wolf tickets. I am serious.

Throughout the United States there are few, if any, urban African-American communities that afford multigenerational professional, working class, and intellectual African-Americans to routinely meet, mingle, and network on a daily basis. I am familiar with some of the affluent African-American communities throughout the country like Prince Georges County in Maryland. I do not mean any disrespect to communities like that one, yet, there is a reality that many of our current communities are suburban in nature. Due to the composition of the suburban communities many opportunities for simple social interactions that can lead to networks are lost. I also understand that there are a great many organizations that also afford African-Americans the opportunity to network like the Links, Jack & Jill, and our graduate chapters of our fraternities and sororities. But even those organizations are not as effective in building strong viable networks as can occur by daily social interactions between multigenerational professional, working class, and intellectual African-Americans like what can be available in the Bronzeville neighborhood.

Community power is built through networks. Economic opportunity within a community is found through networks. A thriving community with a cultural identity can provide fertile soil for leaders and strong networks to spring that can generate economic and political power. It can also provide a breeding ground for creative energy that can foster a new generation of artists, musicians, and creative critical thinkers. There could be no limit to the contributions that could come from this community. The future is now. We just need to be ready to help usher it in.

Pro Choice

“We should be taught not to wait for inspiration to start a thing. Action always generates inspiration. Inspiration seldom generates action.”

--Frank Tibolt--

“Genius is one per cent inspiration, ninety-nine per cent perspiration.”

--Thomas A. Edison--

“The government consists of a gang of men exactly like you and me. They have, taking one with another, no special talent for the business of government; they have only a talent for getting and holding office.”

--H. L. Mencken--

We are going to elect a new President of the United States in about nineteen months. Prior to the general election where that new President will be elected, the two major parties will choose their representatives. Right now it is anybody’s race. Several high profile candidates are vying for their party’s nomination, which will make for a lot of drama over the next year. The problem is we as Americans and especially “we” as African-Americans do not need any more drama. We have plenty of that in our work places, in our neighborhoods, and in every other aspect of our lives. We do not need drama; we need direct and honest answers.

I am sure the few people that read my blog are probably thinking “here we go again.” You guys are probably saying to yourselves “here comes another rant about electing public officials solely based on issues.” Well, to you folks I have one answer . . . you are right. This is another article about ignoring the trivial and focusing in on the important.

The media has been replete with articles about an alleged “feud” between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. I can not begin to count the amount of air time that has been dedicated to discussing “important tidbits” of information like what a former Clinton supporter turned Obama fundraiser in California thinks about the Clintons. I enjoy a dramatic story as much as the next guy, but I can get drama in a movie theater, at home on cable, or in a book. I do not need it in the news coverage of the people that are applying for the position of most powerful man or woman in the world.

Think about it. If more than one person was applying to be your babysitter, would you concern yourself with trivial issues about them or would you want to know their qualifications and their background? If you were hiring an accountant to manage your assets of your business and balance its books, would you care about what his/her great grandfather did before that person was even thought of? Do you care whether your child’s teacher’s spouse is faithful? I might be going out on a limb, but somehow I have the suspicion that most people would answer no to those questions. If that is the case then why should we accept that type information from the news media about people that are asking to become our President because the media says it is news?

I think we shouldn’t. Several people have announced that they are seeking their party’s nomination for the office of the President of the United States, yet I can not honestly say that I have a firm grasp where any of them stand on issues of importance to me or even on most issues. That is sad since so much air time has already been used talking about some of the candidates. The truth is a President will tend to be what we elected him/her on. If we elect him/her based on substance then we will likely get substance from that President. However, if we elect him/her based on images and slogans then we will be entertained, we will be distracted, but we will once again fail to have our issues addressed. It is our choice.