MCJ October 29, 2014 Edition

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Mary Burke is community’s choice to be governor of Wisconsin!ELECTIONELECTIONWATCH20142014YOURYOURCommunityCommunityJournalJournalENDORSES...ENDORSES...

PULSEPULSEOF THEOF THECOMMUNITYCOMMUNITY

TAMMI HAYES-MCGOWAN:“No, I believe we asAfrican Americans should know the origin of the Halloweencelebration. Granted, many adults were brought up to takepart in the celebration as fun and sharing treats, but there is ademonic connotation that is accociated with it, which puts ourchildren in harms way. What looks like fun can oepn a door ofevil in our lives and the community in which we live.”

BILLY TRAMMELL:“Yes, because it is a tradi-tion. As a parent, I (you) have to figure out a safeplace--or environment--for your child to celebrate Hal-loween.”

FINTRESS HARRIS: “I believe that the celebra-tion of Halloween is still important. I feel that thereis enough that’s being taken away from kids thesedays, and as our dangerous society exists, then we,as parents and role models, need to approach holi-days not just Halloween, and be aware of the pit-falls and evilness that lurks.”

SANTOASHA HARRIS:“I feel that the Hal-loween celebration is still important; and as long asthe good part of society continues to celebrate andconduct it in a controlled atmosphere.”

Photos andquestion by

Yvonne Kemp

QUESTiONOF THE WEEK: Duringthe recently held “Truth andTreat: A Safe Halloween Al-ternative” event at the North-west Family Activity andEvents Center, we asked fourattendees who accompaniedtheir children, “is it still im-portant for children in theBlack community to cele-brate Halloween given thedangers in our current so-ciety? Why or why not?

Town Hall meeting explores the “State ofBlackMilwaukee”

The evening opened with 29 beautiful AfricanAmerican students gracing the stage in their blue andkaki uniforms. The K4, 2nd through 5th grade students from the Universal

Academy for the College Bound proudly proclaimed not onlythe college that they visioned to attend, but also the year oftheir graduation falling mostly in the 2030, 2031 average antic-ipated year. Just simply outstanding and quite inspiring.But the rest of the evening posed a more poignant tone at this the first

Community Conversations Town Hall Meeting held at the Universal Acad-emy for the College Bound, Daniel Webster Campus located at 6850 North53rd Street.Themed the “State of Black Milwaukee,” the gathering was presented by Uni-

versal Companies and Pastors United. Minister Gregory Lewis, president ofPastors United shared the purpose and tone of this Thursday, October 23, 2014meeting.Noting a host of challenges facing Milwaukee’s Black community and our

population nationally, Lewis asked, “What are the obstacles and impedimentsto our advancement? How do we acquire land, tools, resources and the use ofour labor to enrich ourselves?”He probes the inquiry of how can Black people work together to build com-

munity and how do we overcome being a now “obsolete and abandoned laborclass?” What is equal opportunity and freedom and how can these variables be meas-

ured and how do we strengthen our own political leaders, he continues from thepodium.“Why do we keep on going backwards?” Lewis asked, “Why can’t we have

our own economic development structure in our own community?” Our dollars,he says, don’t even bounce once in our own neighborhoods.“Why don’t we have a community like Chinatown, and Little Havana, or Jew

Town and Little Mexico or Little Italy? Where is our sense of community?” “We’re going to talk about these things here tonight,” he adds. Additional concerns that the community is not doing include teaching our

children about wealth; remaining a burden on the larger society with foodstamps and welfare as opposed to generating our own wealth; developing andeconomic, political, education and media system that we can control.“The purpose of this meeting tonight,” he concludes, “is to build community;

to build trust and to seek accountability in one another. This is the start of theconversation and we are going to be serious about moving forward with ourpurpose.”Moderated by Eric Von, the stage panelist included an impressive range of

MCJ Exclusive by Taki S. Raton

(continued on page 2

District 5 BoardCandidateCharlie Fox iscounting on hisyears of variedexperience towin election

Listening to fifth District CountySupervisor Candidate Charlie Foxtalk, one can’t help but believe thatthe semi-retired quality assurance/or-ganizational consultant has morethan enough qualifications to repre-sent and positively impact con-stituents in the district.Fox regaled a reporter about his

life and experiences: Growing up inthe South, especially in West Texas,starting a Wisconsin tax reform or-ganization at age 23, working withall levels of government, helpingstart-up or reorganize struggling501(3)Cs like the Ebenezer ChildCare Center, work on or manage po-litical campaigns on a local and na-tional level.He and his wife serve meals to

homeless men at St. BenedictCatholic Church, something they’vedone for 20-plus years. There he hasmade friends with homeless men,some of whom have helped him withhis ongoing, 33 year mission ofrestoring his home on McKinleyBoulevard.Asked why he wants to be a Mil-

waukee County Supervisor, Fox said“it’s not the money; I can make morethan $25,000 (which will be the re-duced pay of county supervisors dueto legislation that reduced staff sizes,pay and hours...but not the responsi-bilities).“I could fish and live off of Social

Security. But I don’t fish and I havetoo much brain left and a lot of en-ergy,” Fox said chuckling.“It’s an opportunity to continue

serving people,” Fox said, adding theimportance of serving others was“pounded into me at an early age.”It’s why, he said, he chose the profes-sion he did.Fox said he chose a long time ago

to live in the diverse area boarded byMarquette University, the old Con-

Milwaukee Health Services Inc.(MHSI) introduced Kenneth Walleras its new Chief Operations Officerduring a community reception heldMonday, October 27, at The BigEazy, located at 2053 N. MartinLuther King Drive.“We are very excited about Ken-

neth’s relocation to Milwaukee tojoin our team,” said Pamela Clark,Corporate Communications Special-ist. “We look forward to his positivecontributions in our pursuit of Pa-tient-Centered Medical/Dental/Be-havioral Home care while weprovide a fiscally strong health centerwith emphasis on Milwaukee’s urbanunderserved communities”. Waller joined MHSI last Septem-

ber 15. Prior to joining MHSI,Waller was the Regional Practice Di-rector in one of New Jersey’s multi-site Federally Qualified HealthCenters (FQHC). In addition to Community Health

MilwaukeeHealth Servicesintroduces itsnew COO Kenneth Wallerto community

Kenneth Waller

(continued on page 10)

Rahim islam,president andCEO of Univer-sal Companiesand the primaryconvener of therecent TownHall Meeting,with communityactivist andcivic leaderMartha Love be-fore the start ofthe meeting,that was held atthe UniversalAcademy forthe Collegebound, DanielWebster Cam-pus, located at6850 N. 53rd St.(Photo courtesyof Facebook)

Compiled by MCJ StaffNo offense to the other candidates

running for respective state and na-tional offices; but we believe theONLY race our community is payingany serious attention too (aside fromCongresswoman Gwen Moore’srelection bid—which is a guaranteedwin for her, in our opinion) is the racefor the governorship of the state ofWisconsin.Just listen to the radio, watch tele-

vision, read the newspapers or go on-line. Citizens of this state (especiallythose of us who live in Milwaukee

and other areas of the southeasternpart of the state) are reading, listen-ing to, watching, or following on

Twitter and Facebook, or hearingabout on Black talk radio is the racebetween conservative Republican in-cumbent Gov. Scott Walker andDemocratic challenger, business-woman Mary Burke.Current state polls have the race at

a dead-heat. But we get the feelingfrom talking to voters and grass-rootspolitical pundits in our community,that people are ready for a change…a change for the better. And the per-son who will bring about thechange—in their opinion—is MaryBurke.

Over the last few months we’vebeen running articles by and onBurke and what she will do as gov-

ernor if she is fortunate to be electedNovember 4. She is a strong advo-cate for business development, goodschools that are adequately fundedand equipped, an increase in the min-imum wage, workers rights, job cre-ation (which seems to be the numberone issue with Black voters), and astrong healthcare system--especiallyfor women and children.Burke also believes in increasing

the access and affordability of a col-lege education and reducing the bur-den of massive student loan debt.

Mary Burke Gov. Walker


Charlie Fox


President Obama Comes to North Division HighSchool to energizevotersand supportMary Burke

President Barack Obama turned out the base for GubernatorialCandidate Mary Burke Tuesday at North Division High School.Burke supporters and those who love the President cheered onthe Commander and Chief and Burke, who is challenging incum-bent Scott Walker. Both Cong. Gwen Mooreand Mayor Tom Bar-rett also got the crowd fired up. (Photos by Yvonne Kemp)

The Milwaukee Community Journal October 29, 2014

I have written many timesthat the instability of theBlack community is tied tothe instability of the Blackfamily, which is also linkedto the instability of theBlack man.The Black man has been a target

since being enslaved for some 450years. Nearly every demographicscreams out loud that something is se-riously wrong with the Black man inAmerica. When did this start? Is theBlack man, by nature, a broken and in-ferior specimen? If you examine theBlack male incarceration rate (schoolto prison pipeline); health disparities,massive long-term unemployment andunderemployment (over 50% for Blackmen ages 18 -35), two-thirds of highschool dropouts are Black men, andhigh levels of violent crimes (i.e. mur-ders, aggravated assault, robbery, ag-gravated robbery, etc.,) are committedby Black men. Black men are the mostvulnerable of all racial/gender groupson the planet. I know what you're saying. How can

Black males be a target? How are theissues facing Black men directly con-nected to our legacy of slavery? Let meexplain how. For those who say, "Why are we

going back to one of the worst times inAmerican history?", " Why is it rele-vant today?,” do the math. Between1941 and 1945, Jews were targeted andmethodically murdered in the largestgenocide of the 20th century. Everyarm of Germany's bureaucracy was in-volved in the logistics of the genocide,turning the Third Reich into "a genoci-dal state.” In total, approximately 11million people were killed, includingone million Jewish children alone. A network of facilities in Germany

and German-occupied territories wereused to concentrate, confine, and killJews. The persecution and genocidewere carried out in stages. Initially the German government

passed laws to exclude Jews from civilsociety, most prominently the Nurem-berg Laws of 1935. While these atroc-ities were vicious and insensible, theJewish community, to their credit, hasnever let the world forget not only what

Germany did to them but how othercountries were complicit in this crimeagainst humanity. In addition to thousands of movies,

books, and incorporated ceremoniesthat honor the victims and the resistors,they will attack and/or address anyonethat attempts to trivialize or minimizethe impact the Holocaust has had onthe Jewish community and its descen-dants. The American institution of slavery

(America's Black Holocaust), the legalinstitution of chattel slavery that ex-isted for nearly 300 years. Startingwith the capture and trans-Atlantic pas-sage of millions of Africans from theshores of West Africa, with untold mil-lions dying in the process, being sub-jected to worst and barbaric conditionsever perpetuated against a people oversuch a long period of time. In addition to being torn away from

its native culture, which was systemat-ically removed over several genera-tions and forced displacement anddisruption of the Black family, chattelslavery, unlike other forms of slavery,is the worst form of slavery because itbinds the enslaved offspring into per-petuity. Our ancestors were viewed and

treated no better than animals for sev-eral hundred years. Blacks are beingurged to forget slavery and to forget theterrorism of Jim Crow that specificallytargeted Black men. Some estimatenearly 50,000 Black men were lynchedduring this period with millions of dol-lars of property seized and or destroyedto enforce White superiority and fear. I'm not here to argue which holo-

caust is the worse, but like the Jewishcommunity, the Black community can'tlet America and the other beneficiariesof the American institution of slavery (America's Black Holocaust) off thehook. Because the institution of slavery

took place over hundreds of years im-pacting numerous generations of ourancestors, the legacy of slavery is muchmore ingrained and profound, espe-cially as it relates to the family rolesand the socialization process. Usingthe Jewish logic, the American institu-tion of slavery (America's Black Holocaust) should

be a prominent and healthy discussionand description of the America storyand should not be relegated to an eventtype of footnote. What we don't realize is that while

we might not speak about slavery, itreigns in our hearts and in our mindson a daily basis. Dr. Joy Leary, in her book titled, “

Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome,”states that slavery was one of America's

most lucrative institutions and was thecornerstone on which American wealthand power were built. Like wealth and power that has

lasted until today, so does the psycho-social consequence on Black Ameri-cans. Many White experts (i.e.psychologists, social scientists, re-searchers, etc.) know very well theramifications of slavery but continue toact as if the current state of affairs forso many African Americans is the re-sult of their own doing and their ownineptitude. Nothing could be furtherfrom the truth! The effects of slaveryare very much alive and well. There are many historically correct

and factual representations about slav-ery, but until recently, little has beendone to examine slavery’s impact onthe Black community, especially theBlack family; specifically the Blackman. What's so intriguing is that study

after study now reflects on the legacyof slavery and the inability of Blacks tolet go of the remnants of slavery, espe-cially those that influence our valuesystems (i.e. religion, culture, econom-ics, politics, education, etc.). Probably the most serious effect of

all was the impact that slavery had onthe Black family. The family is thevery foundation of healthy, construc-tive, personal and community life.Without a strong family, individual lifeand community life are likely to be-come very unstable. The destruction ofthe Black family was accomplished bydestroying marriage, fatherhood (lead-ership), and motherhood. Slavery didaway with fathers because it had no usefor them and when our men attemptedto take on the role of the father, theywere emasculated, sold away, physi-cally harmed or killed, directly by theplantation owner who always made itknown to everyone, specifically thewoman and her children that only hewas the man. Fundamentally, the obligations of

marriage were extremely inconsistentwith the conditions of slavery andcould not be performed by the Blackslave. A husband promises to protectand provide for his wife and childrenuntil his death. But what can suchpromises made by slaves mean? The legal relationship of the owner

and the slave renders them void. TheBlack could not protect himself letalone protect his wife and children. The laws of the United States gave

the slave owner unlimited control andfull possession of his person. In theminds of the slave owner, the slave hadno soul; he was not human. The Black man was valued as a

workhorse and a stud. The more work

the slave could perform, the greater theproduction output, the greater the prof-its for the owner. His manhood wasdefined by his ability to impregnate awoman. The virtue of fatherhood wasconsidered a threat on the plantationand resulted in branding the Black manas a trouble maker that resulted inphysical punishment or death. Afterseveral generations of such unnaturaltreatment, Black men adapted andbegan to resist the role of being a truefather and leader. Equally as destructive as the role of

the father during slavery is the disre-spect a Black man receives as a leaderof his family or in his community.Analogous throughout nature is themost certain way to destroy life by cut-ting off the head. From the turkey, tothe cow, to the human being, the mostimmediate way to bring death to a bodyis to remove its head. Slave narrativesand historical accounts are full of de-scriptions of atrocities brought againstany Black man who demonstrated anyform of leadership. Slave owners real-ized that their power and control overthe slaves was dependent upon the ab-sence of any indigenous leadershipamong the slave. Any slave was taughtto view with suspicion natural leaderswho emerged from among themselves.These Black men were identified as up-pity or arrogant and were branded asthe trouble makers. Brothers and sisters, we have been

programmed to think that these factsare not pertinent, but if we would re-examine our condition, we would seethat everything is on us. If this type oftreatment had occurred over a 4-5 yearperiod, maybe we could believe that itisn't a contributing factor. But thistreatment occurred continuously fornearly 350 years, not including over 50years of Jim Crow following the eman-cipation. Black men are the most vulnerable

of all racial/gender groups. In subse-quent parts of this article I will elabo-rate the current systemic and structuralattacks against Black men and Blackboys. Stay tuned......Don't be silent on November 4th, get

up, get out, get someone and GOVOTE! Also tune in to 860AM WNOVall day for ELECTION CENTRAL.

Rahim Islam is a NationalSpeaker and Writer, Convener ofPhiladelphia Community of Leaders,and President/CEO of UniversalCompanies, a community develop-ment and education managementcompany headquartered in Philadel-phia, PA. Follow Rahim Islam onFaceBook(Rahim Islam) & Twitter(@RahimIslamUC)

UNIVERSALLY SPEAKINGThe Black Male: A Targeted Group--Part 1

Rahim islam

TownHallmeetingexplores the “State ofBlackMilwaukee”Milwaukee community leaders, thinkers and practitioners to address key issuesraised by Lewis.Dr. Michael Bonds positioned that we must clearly understand the role of in-

stitutional racism and citing a published source concluding that the outlook forBlack Milwaukee is, “very bleak.”“We have the highest incarceration rate in the country, the highest infant mor-

tality rate and that this is our seventeenth year of having the highest housingloan rejection distinction,” he says.Bonds add that many of our community based and cultural organizations are

gone and that, “this is not by coincidence. This is by design.”The MPS School Board President and Associate Professor in the UW-M De-

partment of Educational Policy and Community Studies posits that Milwaukeeis the fourth poorest city in the nation and that we have a serious lack of lead-ership in our communities.“It is my hope that this dialogue can begin to turn things around.” He believes

that, “We have the talent in this room. But until we get control of the economicbase here, buy homes and transfer wealth back to our children, we will remainin the same shape for yet another generation to come.”Moderator Von injected that a many present would say about this Milwaukee

meeting that, “this has been done before; that it’s been done many times before.”But he adds that there is nothing wrong with making, “an attempt, after an at-tempt, after an attempt to get it right and that is what we are beginning againhere tonight.”Von informs the audience that, “these issues that we are confronted with here

in this city deserve no less attention,” and that, “our future demands that wegive it our best, not just today, but every day. We have gathered a few of ourdeepest thinkers, our foremost planners and profound producers to probe theirminds and to share in thought about the things that matter most in our commu-nity.”He cautions that that the evening will probably not produce solutions to the

problems that plague Black people. But he says that, “we will have begun theprocess of making Milwaukee a better place for African Americans to live, tothrive, and to do better. We all want to be better; we all want to live better, wewant to exist in a better environment so that we can have a better chance of en-joying life the same as so many others do.”Von then asked forum panelist Randy Crump of Prism Technical Management

and Marketing Services, just where are we missing when it comes to the con-nection between education and improving our economic condition and is thisdisconnect a major stumbling block.“There is a disconnect between education and economics, but there is a bigger

disconnect on attitudes because our kids don’t see what the future holds for themand they give up on their education,” sight’s Crump.He adds that the young people have to be educated, but that such an education

does not have to include a college degree; that there are such fields as carpentry,electrical and plumbing and mechanics.“We have got to find solutions and we have to pursue these solutions like

there is no tomorrow,” he positions.Minister William Muhammad of Milwaukee’s Mosque #3 commented that,

“The condition of Black Milwaukee is pretty evident but in reality, it is no dif-ferent from anywhere else in the country. We are just in the top ten. The forumhere tonight reflects the value of bringing our people together and let our unitywork towards solving our problems.”He spoke to the recent anniversary of the Million Man March where the ques-

tion arose of how can we overcome the principle of Willie Lynch where he usesfear, distrust and envy for control purposes. “These are the principles that are functioning within us right now and we have

to overcome this. We have to recognize the godliness in each other. But beforewe can recognize the godliness in each other, we must first recognize the godthat is within ourselves. This will help us to overcome the envy and distrustthat we have for one another.” Bro. William informs us that the Hon. Elijah Muhammad said that politics

without economics is a symbol with-out substance and that our economicbase is our real political leverage. TheJews are a good example, he reveals.“The Jews are a small group relative

to numbers, but they hold strong po-litical influence because of their eco-nomic base and because of their unity.If all you have is a vote and you haveno unity or no economic base, thenyou have no leverage to hold yourpoliticians accountable,” he adds. Forum member Bria Grant said that,

“Some of the issues affecting Milwau-kee is our lack of trust for one anotherand this lack of trust lies between theolder and younger generations.” Sheadds that we as a community here inMilwaukee must be more purposefuland come together. “We must put our pride and our ego

aside and come up with our ownagenda. Other people’s vision has notbenefited us and it is more than pasttime that we begin to do and build forourselves,” she says.Unfortunately, this writer’s taping

was not able to pick up many of thecomments shared in the auditoriumfrom the stage and regretfully did notrecord at all the very strong closing

THETHEMiLWAUKEEMiLWAUKEECOMMUNiTYCOMMUNiTYJOURNALJOURNALPublished twice weekly,Wednesday & Friday3612 North Martin LutherKing Drive, Milwaukee, Wi 53212Phone: 414-265-5300 (Advertising and Administration) • 414-265-6647 (Editorial) • Website: communityjournal.net • Email: [email protected]/[email protected]

Opinion and comments expressed on the Perspectives page do not nec-essarily reflect the views of the publisher or management of the MCJ. Let-ters and “other perspectives” are accepted but may be edited for contentand length.

MCJ STAFF:Patricia O’Flynn -PattilloPublisher, CEORobert J. ThomasAssoc. PublisherTodd Thomas, Vice Pres.Mikel Holt, Assoc. PublisherThomas E. Mitchell, Jr., EditorTeretha Martin, Technical Consultant/Webmaster BillingDept./Publisher’s Admin. Assist.

Colleen Newsom,Classified AdvertisingJimmy V. Johnson, Sales Rep.CONTRiBUTiNG WRiTERS:Taki S. Raton, Richard G. Carter,Fr. Carl Diederichs, Rev. JoeMcLinPHOTOGRAPHER: Yvonne Kemp

(continued from page 1)


UNiVERSAL COMPANiESFAMiLY OF SCHOOLS


The Community Journal’s Endorses...UNIVERSALLY SPEAKINGThe Black Male: A Targeted Group--Part 1 Though he survived a recall election and has been

touted as a presidential hopeful for Republicans in 2016for the “reforms” he’s instituted in Wisconsin with thehelp of a Republican controlled state legislature, Walkeris vulnerable. Though he has touted creating 100,000 jobs, he’s

150,000 jobs short of his bold proclamation of creating250,000 jobs…and that was supposed to happen by theend of his first year in office. That’s a tough promise to keep given the fact that upon

taking the oath of office, he immediately stopped thestate’s participation in the federally funded light-rail sys-tem, killing hundreds of jobs for individuals in Milwau-kee—many of whom were from our community.During Walker’s first term, the state has gone the op-

posite of its motto, it has gone “BACKWARDS” in fam-ily income (a drop of nearly $3,000 a year). Wisconsin is last in Midwest private sector job growth,

and is facing a projected $1.8 billion structural deficit inthe next budget.Many families are working harder, but have less to

show for it in the form of a wage increase or an increasein the minimum wage, which Walker is against.And that tax cut the governor boosts about in his com-

mercials? The only ones experiencing a tax cut are the fi-nancially affluent in the state, who are eithergenerationally wealthy or are top executives at state basedcorporations and companies who supported the governorin his two election campaigns. As for Parental Choice, which used to be the crown

jewel of state Republicans? It’s now another luxury forthe rich. The governor expanded the program to includeupper-income families that could already afford to sendits children to private schools without the program.Burke wants to give people in the state a fair shot in

the form of good schools, safer neighborhoods, higherwages, jobs, small business growth, reducing taxes on themiddle-class and the working poor, an affordable second-ary education and the chance to have a secure retirement.More importantly, Burke is committed to aiding the

state’s largest city, Milwaukee, which has been the polit-ical and economic whipping boy for Walker, who blamesthe city for the state’s ills—past and current.For our community—the Black community—the

choice is very simple and right: Vote Mary Burke for gov-ernor!

CONGRESS—

The only congressional race that impacts Black Mil-waukee is the race for the District Four Congressionalseat currently held by incumbent Gwen Moore, who hasdone yeoman’s work on behalf of her constituents despitethe impediments placed before that body by ConservativeRepublicans in the House of Representatives.Whether it’s been worker’s rights, women’s rights,

healthcare, economics or national security, Moore hasbeen on the right side of the majority of the issues. Heropponents, Republican Dan Sebring and IndependentRobert Raymond have no connection that we’ve seen tothe community except, perhaps, attending a CommunityBrainstorming candidates’ forum.

STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL—Though she hasn’t been to the community, let alone the

Community Journal to share her views on issues pertain-ing to law and order, we endorse Susan Happ to succeedJ.B. Van Hollen, who chose not to seek another term asthe state’s top law enforcement officer.From what we’ve seen in commercials (we nor the

community haven’t seen him in the central city) BradSchimel seems to be a clone of Van Hollen in attitudewhen it comes to people of color and the law.

STATE ASSEMBLY—State Senators Lena Taylor and Nikiya Harris Dodd are

not on the ballot this go around, leaving the Black candi-dates in the state Assembly to take front and center in theelection.Candidate David Bowen (10th Assembly District) and

incumbent Mandela Barnes (11th Assembly District)have no opponents and should win easily, as should 12thAssembly District incumbent Fred Kessler, and 18th As-sembly district incumbent Evan Goyke. Both Goyke andKessler (who are white) represent districts with largeBlack populations.The only Assembly incumbent representing the com-

munity with an opponent is LaTonya Johnson of the 17thAssembly District. She’s being challenged by EugenieStackowitz.As for Secretary of State, we predict it will be Douglas

La Follette who will again be reelected to an office thatno longer has the governmental impact it once had.

MILWAUKEE COUNTY SHERIFF—The choice is obvious…incumbent County Sheriff

David Clarke.MILWAUKEE COUNTY BOARD—In the special board election to replace District Seven

Board member David Bowen, who stepped down to run



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55The CommunityJournal Endorses...for the state Assembly, we have a dif-ficult choice. Martin Weddle, a Blackcandidate who is a Legislative PolicyResearch Analyst and LegislativeAide, and Charlie Fox, white candi-date who has a long history of gov-ernmental and political activism. To us, this race is a toss-up. During

an interview with the MCJ, which isin this week’s edition, we found himengaging, knowledgeable about pol-itics and committed to service andthe community. He’s lived in ourcommunity for some 30 years andhas numerous connections withprominent Black activists.Both candidates would do a good

job representing the district. Bothhave similar ideas. During a recentdebate, both candidates agreed on al-most everything as it relates to the is-sues impacting the district. Whoeverwins, both men should work togeterafter the elections for they jointlystrengthen the community in waysthat can only strengthen them for fu-ture elections.


Charlie Foxbanking on hisexperience andcommitment toservicecordia College site, Cold Spring, andthe Upper Heights. Though multi-cultural, the “L”-shaped district hassome of the poorest areas, eventhough it runs the gamut from wellto-do east-siders to middle and work-ing poor families.Even with the reduction in pay and

staff, Fox said he will treat the posi-tion--if elected--like a full time job.His platform is simple and addressesthe needs of his district: Public trans-portation, gun violence and crimeand vacant homes.In public transportation, Fox wants

a balanced transportation system andcalled for the creation of a RegionalTransit Authority, which will enableeveryone to access family-supportingjobs, retail and health services.Fox said programs are needed that

further cooperation among all levelsof law enforcement as it relates toquelling gun violence and crime.Fox called on county government

to work with banks, businesses,housing programs and local govern-ments to again make vacant homesfamily-occupied.



When voters vote November 4 for political offices, they must alsoLOOK AT THE BACK of their ballot sheet. There they will find five ref-erendum items that will impact how transportation and election cam-paigns will be funded, healthcare, the minimum wage and the futureof the position of Milwaukee County Executive.

IMPORTANT REFERENDUMSIMPORTANT REFERENDUMSYOU YOU MUSTMUST VOTEON NOV. 4NOV. 455

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “In theend, that’s what thiselection is about. Dowe participate in apolitics of CYNICISMor a politics ofHOPE?”--President

Barack Obama


There are seven daysleft to go until ElectionDay and Scott Walker isin the toughest fight ofhis political career withthe polls showing adead heat in the lastweek of the campaign. Awful jobs numbers and a mas-

sive $1.8 billion budget deficitbrought Walker's first term intofocus, allowing voters to question ifWisconsin needs another four yearswith Scott Walker as governor. A look at Walker’s entire term re-

veals more than enough reasons forvoters to reject another four years. During Walker’s 2010 gubernato-

rial campaign, he issued a promiseto the people of Wisconsin to create250,000 new private-sector jobs bythe end of his first term in office. Asthe first term comes to close, thegovernor isn’t even halfway throughto his promise on job creation. Wisconsin lags behind the rest of

the nation in job growth and is inlast place in private sector Midwestjob growth through Walker’s firstterm - 10th out of 10 states. 2013 was the worst year for pri-

vate sector job creation in Wiscon-sin since the great recession, and2014 is on pace to be considerablyworse. During Walker’s time in office,

the state’s annual private sector jobgrowth lags behind the rest of thenation, averaging 1.35% growthcompared to 2.2% growth nation-ally. Wisconsin would have 70,000

more jobs today if the state had sim-ply grown at the same rate as the na-tional average over Scott Walker’sterm. Walker’s first term has been more

harmful than helpful for workersand Wisconsin families. The governor’s first budget in-

cluded record cuts in direct state aidto public education, slashing $800billion from the public educationbudget. In the face of a dire skills gap,

Walker’s first budget cut funding forvocational and technical colleges by30 percent -leaving the tech collegesystem at 1989 funding levels.For nearly four years, Scott

Walker has experimented in creat-ing jobs with policies and ideas weknow don’t create jobs. Instead of investing in workers,

Walker opposed a modest raise inthe minimum wage to $10.10 anhour. He even said he doesn’t believe

the minimum wage “serves a pur-pose,” although the proposed in-crease would give more than half amillion Wisconsin workers a raiseand a boost to the state’s economy. Unfortunately for working fami-

lies, Walker’s focus has been onthose at the very top during his firstterm - and there's no indication thata second Walker term will be anydifferent. Walker issued huge tax cuts for

those at the very top, giving 60% ofthe cuts to those making over$100,000. For the average Wisconsin family,

with a household annual income be-tween $50,000 and $60,000,Walker’s lopsided tax cuts amountto just $2 per week this year. While dishing out massive tax

cuts for those at the top, Walker is-sued tax increases aimed at puttingthe squeeze on nearly 140,000working class families. Walker increased taxes on the

middle class by $69.8 million, whileforking over $610 million in taxbreaks to businesses over his term.Between budget cuts and fiscally

irresponsible tax plans, Walker cre-ated huge budget deficits. Wisconsin faces a projected

deficit of $396 million in the currentbudget, and a massive $1.8 billionprojected structural deficit headinginto the next.

Deficits that will likely grow evenlarger as state agencies make budgetrequests for 2015 - 2017. Since 2010, Walker has managed

to work against Wisconsin familiesand run the state budget into theground at the very same time. His most high-profile bill sign-

ings -repealing the Equal Pay En-forcement Act, partisan votingrestrictions, mandatory transvaginalultrasounds - have been controver-

sial and unrelated to creating jobs orgiving Wisconsin families a fairshot at economic security. That's where a Mary Burke gov-

ernorship would be different thanfour more years of Scott Walker.Mary is committed to giving eachand every Wisconsin citizen a fairshot at success. She'll do whatever works best to

provide opportunities for the peopleof Wisconsin.Above all things, Mary Burke is

committed to pulling our state outfrom the hole Scott Walker spentnearly four years digging. Walker’s first term record doesn’t

warrant any reason to election himfor a second. As a governor, he’s run Wisconsin

into the ground and let our state fallfar behind the rest of the nation.Walker shouldn’t have a chance todig a deeper hole for Wisconsinfamilies and workers.

By Urban News Media

(Mary Burke

Voters have good reason tovote against Scott Walker


New efforts tochange stereotypesand encourageAfrican-Americanyoung menUWM is working to change the

stereotypes and the prospects for youngAfrican-American males through a col-laborative effort called the AfricanAmerican Male Initiative.“This effort is a merger of two initiatives aimed at black

youth to help them be successful,” says Jim Hill, associatevice chancellor for Student Affairs.The collaboration grows out of Saving Black Boys – an

initiative that Gary L. Williams director of the Black Cul-tural Center and the Institute for Intercultural Researchstarted at UWM several years ago – and efforts on the partof Student Affairs to recruit and retain African-Americanmales and assure they graduate. Williams’ initiative, which included a forum in 2012 and

a summit for African-American Youth in 2013, aimed toaddress challenges such as a soaring high school dropoutrate, a pipeline that often ran straight from school to jail formany; few job opportunities; and a society that oftenviewed these young men as intimidating or uneducable.The goal of AAMI is to combine the efforts of UWM

faculty, staff and students with those of other communityinitiatives to engage and empower the community tochange biases and empower these young men to help re-shape their future.This year the group is joining with the city of Milwau-

kee, Community Advocates, Center for Youth Engagement,and many other community organizations to host a kick offfor Boys and Men of Color Week (Oct. 26-Nov. 1). This opening event will be at 10:30 a.m., Monday, Oct.

27, in the UWM Student Union Ballroom. The AAMI isalso planning another summit on Dec. 17, anticipating that600 middle and high school young men will attend.

In addition to the Division of Student Affairs, UWM’sAfrican American Student Support Services, Black CulturalCenter, Institute for Intercultural Research and InclusiveExcellence Center are all involved in the efforts. And, anew group, Brother to Brother, will involve UWM studentsin outreach and mentoring to African-American highschool students. In addition to MPS, the Wauwatosa,Racine and other local districts have requested information,says Hill. “These young men can talk to students about making the

transformation from high school to college.”One of the key supports UWM can provide to these ef-

forts is the research and evaluation component, says Hill.“With the limited resources available, it’s important to findout what’s working and what’s not.” Related research projects on black male joblessness,

black male incarceration and organizing local resources andpriorities are already underway through the Center for 21stCentury Studies, the Research Center for Urban EducationLeadership, the UWM Center for Economic Developmentand the Employment and Training Institute,It’s also vital that UWM builds a connection with these

young men, says Williams. “They need to see that theyhave options and there are people who care for them andwho can provide them with what they need to have suc-cess.” The AAMI group would eventually like to expand its ef-

forts to include Latino young men. “The percentage pointsmay differ, but young black and brown men face many ofthe same challenges. They’re not graduating from highschool and too many are involved with the criminal justicesystem, Hill notes” The committee leadership for the AAMI effort includes

members from a variety of different areas of campus. Theyare:Decoteau Irby, assistant professor of administrative lead-

ership in the School of Education;Jim Hill, associate vice chancellor for Student Affairs:Monique Liston, Women’s Resource Center; Emmanuel Ngui, Zilber School of Public Health; Jeffery Roman, Community Advocates;Robert Smith, Global Inclusion and Engagement and

Cultures and Communities; Simone Smith, Institute for Intercultural Research; Warren Scherer, Inclusive Excellence Center Gary L. Williams, associate professor of educational pol-

icy and community studies. For more information, email [email protected].

Centers, Waller has 10 years of experience as a directorand/or program management leader within non-profitsserving disadvantaged communities. Waller’s educational background includes an MBA

with emphasis in Health Systems Management. He is board certified in healthcare management. Waller

is currently a Fellow with the American College ofHealthcare Executives. The mission of MHSI is to provide accessible, quality,

primary and related health care services to Milwaukeeresidents, with the continuing emphasis on medically-un-derserved families and individuals. MHSI operates the Martin Luther King, Jr. Heritage

Health Center at 2555 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Driveand Isaac Coggs Heritage Health Center at 8200 W. SilverSpring Drive. For more information about MHSI, please contactPamela Clark at (414) 267-2655 or [email protected]

--Article compiled by MCJ Staff and MHSI

Milwaukee Health Services introducesnew COO Kenneth Waller to community (continued from page 1)


statement of Universal Companies President and CEO,Rahim Islam. Bro. Islam did in fact mention that this forumis, “just the beginning” and that others will be planned forthe future. And there was really no intent to interject thoughts into

this writing, but this writer left the forum with very dis-turbed feelings. I left with the impression that we here in Milwaukee

have absolutely no clue as to how America’s multiculturalpluralistic society functions. Such an exploration has beendiscussed in many articles under this MCJ byline.Other groups of color in Milwaukee and in America do

not have these issues and granted, other folk do not haveour unique and peculiar “Willie Lynch” history. But further, if we are trying again, and again, and again,

and again with the same agenda – and with the same lead-ership - we will of course get the same results if we aredoing the same thing over and over and over again with thesame people at the helm.Indeed, all other groups within their own respective com-

munities – to include the Anglo communities – all operateon a “Race First” premise or a commitment to their own -first, foremost and always. That is why in the opening whenMinister Lewis asked about Chinatown and Little Havanaand Little Italy and such, this comes from a Race First cul-tural agenda. Nearly everyone talked about economics, but no one

talked about culture. No people can have an economic basewithout first having a strong and impenetrable culturalbase. Culture precedes economics. And since Minister Lewis

was quoting the thoughts of Dr. Claude Anderson, it wasDr. Anderson who said two points to this discussion. First, you cannot have an economic base without a com-

munity in which to move your money around and Blackfolk do not have a community with its own businesses thatwe have built and control. He says we don’t even have our own intact neighbor-

hoods – we just have a “hood.” That’s why our money isnot “bouncing” anywhere because there is nowhere tobounce it.And second to the point of “Race First.” Anderson

writes that all cultural groups in America and indeed in theworld are nationalistic. “Nationalism,” he says, “helps

groups build communities, mobilize for power and controlresources.

It allows cultural groups to function as nations withinnations,” and that within our pluralistic society, nationalismis necessary and is a prerequisite for a sense of community.Black people in the integration 70’s went totally against

this cultural prerequisite that we were speaking to in the60’s and earlier with Elijah, Malcolm, Garvey, Woodson,and Booker to name a few. This writer has often quotedJoel Kotkin (“Tribes – How Race, Religion and IdentityDetermine Success in the New Global Economy”) and oth-ers who cite that the Elijah’s, Malcolm’s Garvey andBooker’s vision were more closely aligned with how Amer-ica and world groups operate pluralistically with their em-phasis on group economics, culture, family, and the controlof their own resources and institutions.Kotkin notes that the traditional African American civil

rights agenda ran counter to this practice and as a result isthe source of Black community powerlessness and decline.Black folk nationally selected to go in an opposite direc-

tion and we now see some 40 years later where that has ledus. You can’t make a mistake and incur the natural and pre-dictable consequences of that mistake and then blame otherpeople for those consequences that you yourself broughtupon yourself.All the answers that we need are in our history. And

again, no one from the forum, with perhaps the exceptionof Bro. Minister William Muhammad, made any referencesto history. It would be our esteemed ancestral warrior scholar and

historian Chancellor Williams who said that: “To be ignorant of history is to be ignorant of what you

are trying to do now. History will show you where we havebeen, how we arrived where we are, whether we have trav-eled the best routes, and it will indicate - if we pause to re-flect long enough - the best route to travel from this pointin time."The future of our 29 beautiful young children at the

opening of the Thursday community town hall forum andthe future of our babies throughout Milwaukee’s AfricanAmerican residence may very well be determined by thechoice that we as Black adults, parents and communitymembers make today from this point forward noting thehistorical routes evident.


Town Hall meeting explores the “State of Black Milwaukee” U.S. Congresswoman and Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus

Marcia L. Fudge will be the keynote speaker at the Community Brain-storming Conference’s 25th annual James Howard Baker Award andCelebration, Friday, Nov. 21, at the Radisson Milwaukee North ShoreHotel, 7065 N. Port Washington Rd.The James Baker award winnerhas not yet been chosen. Cocktails & Social Hour: 5:30 PM.Dinner/Program: 6:30 PM. Tickets for the event are $30.00 (checks ormoney orders).Tickets can be purchased at: The Milwaukee Area Work Force In-

vestment Board (MAWIB), 2342 North 27th Street, Milwaukee, Wis-consin. Call (414) 270-1700 or (414) 507-2123 after 4:30pm andweekends for more information. Chairwoman for the event is Dr.Pamela Malone.

Chair of Congressional Black Caucus, Marcia L. Fudge, tokeynoteCBC’s 25th annual JamesBaker awards

Cong. Marcia L. Fudge

CelebrateCivilRights onNov. 4th

By Congresswoman Barbara LeeEarlier this month the Supreme Court launched another

in a series of attacks on the voting rights of all Ameri-cans.The court allowed Texas’s controversial new voter ID

law to stand, a decision that will re-strict the voices of African Ameri-cans, Latinos, seniors, the poor andstudents.Since the Supreme Court over-

turned a key provision of the VotingRights Act of 1965 in the Shelbycase, there has been a systematic andcoordinated effort to impose restric-tive and discriminatory laws andpractices to suppress voter participa-tion amongst minorities and thesocio-economically disadvantaged. As the heirs of the civil rights

movement, we cannot allow these as-saults to stand.We must be defiant.We must stand up to those that want to turn back the

clock and restrict OUR right to vote. Voting rights are bedrock of our democracy. A right

that people marched for in Selma, suffered fire hoses forin Birmingham and bled for in Neshoba County. Today, we, as a nation, must honor their sacrifices and

embody the courage of our civil rights leaders. The ballotbox, on November 4th, is where we make our stand.In the 50 years since Freedom Summer, our country

has made tremendous progress towards greater equality.Yet, racial discrimination is far from over, especially invoting rights. We have seen this discrimination in voterID laws, limited early voting and biased attempts at re-districting.

The only way to end these discriminatory laws andpractices is to vote on November 4th for candidates thatsupport restoring and protecting the voting rights of allAmericans.Right now, there is a bipartisan bill to correct some of

the damage done by the Shelby deci-sion. While the bill is far from per-fect, it is a step in the right direction.Sadly, the House Republican lead-

ership refuses to hold a hearing orvote on the bill, despite broad bipar-tisan and public support. We can passthis bill (H.R. 3899) but there arethose, in positions of leadership, thatare afraid of minority, young andolder voters.They want to turn back the clock

to the days of poll taxes and JimCrow. As a community and nation,we have come too far to allow theclock to be turned back.

We must stop these regressive practices.It falls upon us to stand up: at the ballot box and in our

communities.Each of us must do our part by voting and encouraging

our friends and families to vote.As we continue to fight for greater economic opportu-

nity, an end to institutional racial biases and a brighter fu-ture for our children, we must not forget the lastgeneration’s victories.They won us the right to vote; we must preserve it for

ourselves and our children. This starts November 4th.Congresswoman Barbara Lee represents California’s

13th Congressional District. She served as chair of theCongressional Black Caucus for the 111th Congressand serves as co-chair of the Congressional Black Cau-

Cong. Barbara Lee

ELECTIONW A T C HFirst Person


Photo Op of President Barack Obama’s visit to NorthDivision High School to support Mary Burke

P h o t o s b y Y v o n n e K e m p • K i m R o b i n s o n • S c o t t P o l l a r d

MCJ October 29, 2014 Edition

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Transcript of MCJ October 29, 2014 Edition