February 18, 2010
While the New Orleans Saints were celebrating winning the Super Bowl, there was another celebration taking place in the Crescent City. The Big Easy has been anything but easy for the past few months. The city was locked in a contentious battle for mayor. Without sounding influenced by race, it should be noted that another major city lost its African American mayor to a white man. This is the first time in three decades that the predominantly African-American city elected a white mayor.
It is difficult for me not to continue to remember and talk about heroic and inspiring men and women of color and their achievements and contribution to ground-breaking changes in New Orleans, before and after Katrina.
Mitch Landrieu was elected mayor of New Orleans, the first time in over 30 years that voters of this majority-black city have chosen a white candidate. When he is sworn in on May 6, Landrieu will become the city's first white chief executive since his father, Moon Landrieu, left the job in 1978. Was it a symbolic act of defiance? Perhaps the city’s challenges were too demoralizing: a deeply troubled police department, a stubborn crime problem, laughable infrastructure and a vast budget gap.
Africans Americans have fought for more than a century to enter the American Political arena, struggling from Reconstruction to the election of President Barack Obama. The last mayoral race in New Orleans was notable for black voters because of their concern about rising white political power and the fate of inundated black neighborhoods. Both issues helped Ray Nagin, an African American, secure victory. It was a complete reversal of support from four years ago, when he attained esteem with black voters and was practically abandoned by whites as he and Landrieu waged a bitter, racially tainted battle in a mayoral runoff election. Nagin eventually emerged the winner.
Since then, some depressing judgments have been offered about the city's ability to rebuild and move forward. But what is more alarming to me is the number of African American cities, with the help of black people that are replacing the African American leaders with persons not of their ancestry. Blacks are losing offices at an alarming rate. We are losing our best and our brightest, so are the best men and women winning?
African Americans have been witness to revolutions which have changed and shaped the landscape of America, predominantly the South and history has on record great and glorious deeds of persons of African ancestry who played significant roles.
There is a list of African American mayors that most Americans have forgotten or perhaps were simply not aware of. February would seem an appropriate month to remind us of a few.
The early rise of a successful Black middle class and the determination of white supremacists to destroy fledgling Black political power began with the suppression of blacks in the earliest periods following reconstruction.
The First African-American elected mayor of a U.S. town was Pierre Caliste Landry in 1868. Ironically, it was in Donaldsville, Louisiana. The state capitol of Louisiana was moved from New Orleans in 1829 to Donaldsonville in 1830, but was moved back to New Orleans in 1831. Isn’t that a coincidence? The first African-American mayor of a predominately white U.S. town and of a Western U.S. town was in 1888. Edward Duplex was elected mayor of Wheatland, California.
There are many more but entering modern times; the first African-American elected mayor of a large U.S. city was in 1967 when Carl Stokes was swept into office in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1968 the first African-American elected mayor of a predominantly white southern city was Howard Nathaniel Lee in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. In 1969 Charles Evers was elected mayor of Fayette, Mississippi.
In the 70’s African-American elected mayors in Newark, Dayton, Wichita; then came such notable as Coleman Young in Detroit, Maynard Jackson in Atlanta, Tom Bradley in Los Angeles, Walter Washington in D.C., Earnest Morial in New Orleans and Harold Washington in Chicago, David Dinkins in NYC and Freeman Bosley, Jr. in St. Louis. There are dozens more. Except for the nations capitol none of these cities have African American mayors.
From children of slavery to the first African American elected President I am amazed at how so many people could vote against their own economic self-interest and yet assert their desire for freedom and self reliance. I assume the national mood has changed. Are black people willing to give up everything for the promises of others? After all, we not only don't take our children to the polls, but we don't even vote in local elections.
Please listen to my radio program aired daily from 7am until 8am Monday through Friday on WGNU-920 AM with my co-host Rep. James T. Morris. And watch The Bernie Hayes TV Show on Channel 24, KNLC TV every Friday morning at 9am and Saturday night at 10 pm.
I can be reached by e-mail at: berhay@swbell.net.
HOTEP!
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Monday, December 21, 2009
St. Louis Black Radio Hall of Fame!
December 17, 2009
It is time for the history of the African American in St. Louis radio to truly come alive. It is important to learn about the past performance and highest achievement of St. Louis radio and the part African Americans played in building this industry. We have a very rich and dynamic past and it behooves everyone to understand what went before hip hop, old school and 'oldies but goodies.' Black radio was the strength of the modern civil rights era.
From the nineteen-forties until today, the personalities that developed, engineered and urbanized 'Soul Radio,' played a premiere and essential part in the shaping of the history of St. Louis radio. Although sometimes overlooked by national institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution and other Federal Archives, St. Louis radio personalities gave a voice and identity to a people and a segment of the community that had been alienated and invisible. It survived Jim Crow, segregation and played a significant function during the civil rights era. It provided a forum for educators, politicians, entertainers and civil libertarians. It as and is a precious resource that must be remembered and maintained.
Local Black radio stations made the masses aware and supplied the moral fiber that granted the platform for Martin and Malcolm, Stokely, H. Rapp Brown, Rosa and Julian, as well as keeping the memory of Sojourner, Dubois, Carver and Booker T. Washington vibrant.
The major St. Louis stations that offered programs and personality shows aimed at the 'Negro Market' in the early days were KATZ-AM 1600, KXLW - AM 1390, KADI-FM, KWK-AM 1380. WTMV 1490 AM that later became WBBR, WAMV and at the present time is WESL –WFFX 1490.
Some of the radio personalities that will automatically be enshrined in the hall will include: Lou 'Fatha' Thimes, Douglas Eason, Gentleman 'Jim' Gates, Amos 'Panyo' Dotson, Gabriel, Edie 'Bee' Anderson. Michael Tyrone Key, Gene Norman, Hosea Gales, Merdean Fielding Gales, Ruby Somerville Dixon, Columbus Gregory, Bill 'Fox Chaser' Moore, Edward 'Buster' Jones, Anthony 'Tony' Stittum, Robin Boyce, Trish Gregory, Jimmy Bishop, Cheryl Winston, Deneen Busby, Alvin John Waples, Bill Bailey, Bobby Knight, Bill Wilkerson, Zella Jackson Price, Dorothy Shelly, Jeanie Trevor, Ron Nichols, Virginia White, Robert 'Scottie Lawrence' Salter, Steve Byrd, Sylvester 'The Cat' Caldwell, Denise Williams, Lou 'J.R.' Thimes Jr., Sharon McGhee, Bob Lawrence, Donn Johnson, Tom Joyner, 'Mel and Thel,' Randy O'Jay, Hank Thompson, Betty Thompson, Decatur Agnew, Keith Antoine Willis, Kevin 'Kevvy Kev' Pulley, Demetrius Johnson, 'Spider Man' Fuller, Richard 'Onion' Horton, Lizz Brown, Charlie Tuna, Corneal 'Tony' Washington, Deacon Ernest Greenlee, Steve Love, Carole Carper, Curtis 'Boogie Man' Brown, and many more local announcers and personalities that will be among the honorees.
There will be a special section for those who are no longer with us, including: Wiley Price, Jr., Dave Dixon, George 'The G' Logan, Jessie 'Spider' Burks, Al 'Scoop Sanders' Gay, E. Rodney Jones, Leo Cheers, Rod 'Jockenstein' King, Willa Mae 'Gracie' Lowery, Roscoe 'Little Ole Roscoe' McCrary, Donnie ‘Soul Finger' Brooks, Jerome Dixon, Hank Spann, Robert 'B.Q.' Burris, Gary 'Starr' Perks, Yvonne Daniels, German Massenberg. Mother Willie Mae Ford Smith, Wynetta Lindsay, Leonard Morris, Rev. Cleophus Robinson, Devan Strong, The O'Neal Twins, Geneva Gentry, Leonard Morris and a host of others who have joined our ancestors.
Some other personalities of St. Louis Black radio that should and will be considered are: Jay Dubard, Mark Anthony, John Gardner, Jake Jordan, Sonny Joe White, Donn St. John, The 'Magnificent' Montague, Chuck Cunningham, Niecy Davis, Walt 'Baby' Love, Lee 'Baby' Michaels and Freeman Bosley, Jr.
There are so many more and I am positive that I have left too many off of each list, so I ask forgiveness and understanding, and I invite your comments, suggestions and nominees.
We are hoping to have the facility located in the African American History Wax Museum. No date has been set and the details have not yet been worked out but we are hopeful and prayerful.
Perhaps in the future we are able to expand to become the St.Louis Black Media Hall of Fame, to include television and other members of the media, including performing and visual arts, recording artists, writers, members of the creative media and public relations. Frank Absher created the model that is housed at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and has offered his help and assistance with our mission.
Have a wonderful holiday season and keep Kwanzaa spiritual, and listen to my radio show on WGNU 920 AM, Monday through Friday at 7 am, and watch my television program on Ch. 24 every Saturday night at 10 pm and Friday mornings at 9 am.
I can be reached by e-mail at: berhay@swbell.net.
Hotep
It is time for the history of the African American in St. Louis radio to truly come alive. It is important to learn about the past performance and highest achievement of St. Louis radio and the part African Americans played in building this industry. We have a very rich and dynamic past and it behooves everyone to understand what went before hip hop, old school and 'oldies but goodies.' Black radio was the strength of the modern civil rights era.
From the nineteen-forties until today, the personalities that developed, engineered and urbanized 'Soul Radio,' played a premiere and essential part in the shaping of the history of St. Louis radio. Although sometimes overlooked by national institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution and other Federal Archives, St. Louis radio personalities gave a voice and identity to a people and a segment of the community that had been alienated and invisible. It survived Jim Crow, segregation and played a significant function during the civil rights era. It provided a forum for educators, politicians, entertainers and civil libertarians. It as and is a precious resource that must be remembered and maintained.
Local Black radio stations made the masses aware and supplied the moral fiber that granted the platform for Martin and Malcolm, Stokely, H. Rapp Brown, Rosa and Julian, as well as keeping the memory of Sojourner, Dubois, Carver and Booker T. Washington vibrant.
The major St. Louis stations that offered programs and personality shows aimed at the 'Negro Market' in the early days were KATZ-AM 1600, KXLW - AM 1390, KADI-FM, KWK-AM 1380. WTMV 1490 AM that later became WBBR, WAMV and at the present time is WESL –WFFX 1490.
Some of the radio personalities that will automatically be enshrined in the hall will include: Lou 'Fatha' Thimes, Douglas Eason, Gentleman 'Jim' Gates, Amos 'Panyo' Dotson, Gabriel, Edie 'Bee' Anderson. Michael Tyrone Key, Gene Norman, Hosea Gales, Merdean Fielding Gales, Ruby Somerville Dixon, Columbus Gregory, Bill 'Fox Chaser' Moore, Edward 'Buster' Jones, Anthony 'Tony' Stittum, Robin Boyce, Trish Gregory, Jimmy Bishop, Cheryl Winston, Deneen Busby, Alvin John Waples, Bill Bailey, Bobby Knight, Bill Wilkerson, Zella Jackson Price, Dorothy Shelly, Jeanie Trevor, Ron Nichols, Virginia White, Robert 'Scottie Lawrence' Salter, Steve Byrd, Sylvester 'The Cat' Caldwell, Denise Williams, Lou 'J.R.' Thimes Jr., Sharon McGhee, Bob Lawrence, Donn Johnson, Tom Joyner, 'Mel and Thel,' Randy O'Jay, Hank Thompson, Betty Thompson, Decatur Agnew, Keith Antoine Willis, Kevin 'Kevvy Kev' Pulley, Demetrius Johnson, 'Spider Man' Fuller, Richard 'Onion' Horton, Lizz Brown, Charlie Tuna, Corneal 'Tony' Washington, Deacon Ernest Greenlee, Steve Love, Carole Carper, Curtis 'Boogie Man' Brown, and many more local announcers and personalities that will be among the honorees.
There will be a special section for those who are no longer with us, including: Wiley Price, Jr., Dave Dixon, George 'The G' Logan, Jessie 'Spider' Burks, Al 'Scoop Sanders' Gay, E. Rodney Jones, Leo Cheers, Rod 'Jockenstein' King, Willa Mae 'Gracie' Lowery, Roscoe 'Little Ole Roscoe' McCrary, Donnie ‘Soul Finger' Brooks, Jerome Dixon, Hank Spann, Robert 'B.Q.' Burris, Gary 'Starr' Perks, Yvonne Daniels, German Massenberg. Mother Willie Mae Ford Smith, Wynetta Lindsay, Leonard Morris, Rev. Cleophus Robinson, Devan Strong, The O'Neal Twins, Geneva Gentry, Leonard Morris and a host of others who have joined our ancestors.
Some other personalities of St. Louis Black radio that should and will be considered are: Jay Dubard, Mark Anthony, John Gardner, Jake Jordan, Sonny Joe White, Donn St. John, The 'Magnificent' Montague, Chuck Cunningham, Niecy Davis, Walt 'Baby' Love, Lee 'Baby' Michaels and Freeman Bosley, Jr.
There are so many more and I am positive that I have left too many off of each list, so I ask forgiveness and understanding, and I invite your comments, suggestions and nominees.
We are hoping to have the facility located in the African American History Wax Museum. No date has been set and the details have not yet been worked out but we are hopeful and prayerful.
Perhaps in the future we are able to expand to become the St.Louis Black Media Hall of Fame, to include television and other members of the media, including performing and visual arts, recording artists, writers, members of the creative media and public relations. Frank Absher created the model that is housed at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and has offered his help and assistance with our mission.
Have a wonderful holiday season and keep Kwanzaa spiritual, and listen to my radio show on WGNU 920 AM, Monday through Friday at 7 am, and watch my television program on Ch. 24 every Saturday night at 10 pm and Friday mornings at 9 am.
I can be reached by e-mail at: berhay@swbell.net.
Hotep
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
The New Black Codes… the Codes of Silence!
October 15, 2009
It used to be rare to report a violent death involving a child or teenager, and it brought astonishment and outrage to the community. But today it is no longer shocking and actually routine in some areas. The waste of a young life and empathy for the families are now all too common. Nearly everyone is talking about the problems in our society with the violence amongst our children and teens. Often when law enforcement officials step up the management and control of the youth in certain neighborhood and districts some residents insist the department is enforcing "The Black Codes."
Although the Civil War had left the South in political and social turmoil, white Southerners were intent on controlling blacks. It was through the creation of the Black Codes that whites discovered they could control almost all aspects of life of Southern blacks.
Almost every aspect of life was regulated, including the freedom to roam. Many codes prohibited blacks from entering towns without permission. In Opelousas, Louisiana, blacks needed permission from their employer to enter the town; a note that stated the nature and length of the visit was required. Any black found without a note after ten o'clock at night was subject to imprisonment.
No community would allow this to happen again but babies killing babies call for desperate measures. Studies reveal that while African Americans comprise 13.5% of the U.S. Population, 43% of all murder victims are African American, most were killed by other African Americans, and many by children or young adult males. So what are law enforcement agencies to do? How are they going to solve the crimes and punish the guilty? How are they to stop the killing? How can they counter the codes of silence, and do away with this "no snitching" mentality? This code of silence and no snitching attitude is another form of self hatred. It is an extreme dislike of oneself.
The Community Policing Dispatch of July 2009 addressed the dilemma with the article "Combating the Stop Snitching Code of Silence."
"Communication between law enforcement and the communities they serve is essential to successful community policing. The willingness of community members to share vital information and participate in partnership-enhancing activities with their local law enforcement agencies has been a successful strategy for addressing and preventing crime.
"Unfortunately, intimidation and the fear of retaliation from individuals involved in illegal activities are straining the relationship between law enforcement and communities. Drug dealers, gang members, and other criminals are promoting a stop snitching culture that often threatens violence against people who provide information to, or cooperate in any way with, the police. The resulting unwillingness to work with local law enforcement is jeopardizing law enforcement initiatives throughout the country."
Dr. Carter G. Woodson noted "when you control a man's thinking you do not have to worry about his actions." We must develop empowerment strategies. Far too often, the only guidance young Black males receive comes after they have committed an offense against society.
Dr. Woodson also wrote in his book "The Mis-education of the Negro," "to handicap a student by teaching him that his black face is a curse and that his struggle to change his condition is hopeless is the worst sort of lynching. He wrote 'the thought of' the inferiority of the Negro is drilled into him in almost every class he enters and in almost every book he studies." We understand Black male youths face formidable challenges to their educational development. Statistics on educational attainment would suggest that many Black youth are at-risk in the nation's schools.
The Black community must educate our youth and the community-at-large to save the children and tell them that when they report a crime, they are not "snitching," but only helping to keep themselves and their families safe. It is our duty to save them and us. When it comes right down to it, we get what we allow, but we don’t deserve what we are getting.
Hotep!
I can be reached by e-mail at berhay@swbell.net.
It used to be rare to report a violent death involving a child or teenager, and it brought astonishment and outrage to the community. But today it is no longer shocking and actually routine in some areas. The waste of a young life and empathy for the families are now all too common. Nearly everyone is talking about the problems in our society with the violence amongst our children and teens. Often when law enforcement officials step up the management and control of the youth in certain neighborhood and districts some residents insist the department is enforcing "The Black Codes."
Although the Civil War had left the South in political and social turmoil, white Southerners were intent on controlling blacks. It was through the creation of the Black Codes that whites discovered they could control almost all aspects of life of Southern blacks.
Almost every aspect of life was regulated, including the freedom to roam. Many codes prohibited blacks from entering towns without permission. In Opelousas, Louisiana, blacks needed permission from their employer to enter the town; a note that stated the nature and length of the visit was required. Any black found without a note after ten o'clock at night was subject to imprisonment.
No community would allow this to happen again but babies killing babies call for desperate measures. Studies reveal that while African Americans comprise 13.5% of the U.S. Population, 43% of all murder victims are African American, most were killed by other African Americans, and many by children or young adult males. So what are law enforcement agencies to do? How are they going to solve the crimes and punish the guilty? How are they to stop the killing? How can they counter the codes of silence, and do away with this "no snitching" mentality? This code of silence and no snitching attitude is another form of self hatred. It is an extreme dislike of oneself.
The Community Policing Dispatch of July 2009 addressed the dilemma with the article "Combating the Stop Snitching Code of Silence."
"Communication between law enforcement and the communities they serve is essential to successful community policing. The willingness of community members to share vital information and participate in partnership-enhancing activities with their local law enforcement agencies has been a successful strategy for addressing and preventing crime.
"Unfortunately, intimidation and the fear of retaliation from individuals involved in illegal activities are straining the relationship between law enforcement and communities. Drug dealers, gang members, and other criminals are promoting a stop snitching culture that often threatens violence against people who provide information to, or cooperate in any way with, the police. The resulting unwillingness to work with local law enforcement is jeopardizing law enforcement initiatives throughout the country."
Dr. Carter G. Woodson noted "when you control a man's thinking you do not have to worry about his actions." We must develop empowerment strategies. Far too often, the only guidance young Black males receive comes after they have committed an offense against society.
Dr. Woodson also wrote in his book "The Mis-education of the Negro," "to handicap a student by teaching him that his black face is a curse and that his struggle to change his condition is hopeless is the worst sort of lynching. He wrote 'the thought of' the inferiority of the Negro is drilled into him in almost every class he enters and in almost every book he studies." We understand Black male youths face formidable challenges to their educational development. Statistics on educational attainment would suggest that many Black youth are at-risk in the nation's schools.
The Black community must educate our youth and the community-at-large to save the children and tell them that when they report a crime, they are not "snitching," but only helping to keep themselves and their families safe. It is our duty to save them and us. When it comes right down to it, we get what we allow, but we don’t deserve what we are getting.
Hotep!
I can be reached by e-mail at berhay@swbell.net.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Right Wing Media: It is All About Race!
September 18, 2009
The lack of respect for president Obama is bigotry and intolerance in its purest form. The debates about healthcare and education are defining the role of the far right wing media in U.S. society.
How did Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity and other so-called journalist and broadcasters in mainstream media get it so wrong? What the conservative media and many elected officials on the “right”are doing is easy to understand.
The right continues to disseminate their false arguments as facts over the airwaves. They, along with many conservative Republicans and some members of the Democratic Party are promoting the opposition to the president’s plan for health care reform and his blueprint for education through bigotry, plain and simple. Their agenda is to confuse the public and distort his message with propaganda.
S. C. Republican Rep. Joe Wilson, during the President’s joint message to Congress called Mr. Obama a liar, and Fox News Channel commentator Glenn Beck said he believes President Barack Obama is a racist.
Do Hannity and Wilson respect the president as the holder of the highest office in the land and the most powerful man in the world, or just a Black man whom they have no reason to respect?
Have they ever asked themselves what are the defining characteristics of being "white" or "black" in America today? Is it solely a matter of skin color? Probably in their eyes, Mr. Obama is linked to the only group to have involuntarily immigrated to the United States, and have been forcibly stripped of its culture, not realizing that African or black Americans has as a group yet to receive its fair share of the American dream. In my opinion, they have racially stereotyped the President of the United States.
Unfortunately racial stereotypes are still alive and well in this country despite progressive steps to eliminate it. But the media and many politicians as well, consistently use negative images to portray African-Americans. These stereo- types are not accurate and African-Americans are unfairly and unrealistically portrayed on television and other forms of media. Among the responsibilities of journalists and politicians is to meaningful link persons of African descent accurately to their ancestral past, but what have we seen during Mr. Obama’s short term in office? We have witnessed a conspiracy by members the media and many conservatives to disrupt town hall meetings, force media outlets to cover the Tea Parties, investigate President Obama’s birth certificate, and attack public officials and Obama supporters.
Mr. Obama’s Presidency is historical and it is a defining role in the growth of the country. It highlights one of the many contributions of Black Americans that have influenced our culture, enriched our society and is shaping the history of the United States. So how can the Right be so wrong?
I would like President Obama to remember a poem by Langston Hughes:
I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen when company comes,
But I laugh, and eat well, and grow strong.
Tomorrow, I'll be at the table when company comes.
Nobody'll dare say to me, "Eat in the kitchen,"
Then, besides, they'll see how beautiful I am, and be ashamed--
I, too, am America.
I can be reached by e-mail at: berhay@swbell.net
Hotep!
The lack of respect for president Obama is bigotry and intolerance in its purest form. The debates about healthcare and education are defining the role of the far right wing media in U.S. society.
How did Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity and other so-called journalist and broadcasters in mainstream media get it so wrong? What the conservative media and many elected officials on the “right”are doing is easy to understand.
The right continues to disseminate their false arguments as facts over the airwaves. They, along with many conservative Republicans and some members of the Democratic Party are promoting the opposition to the president’s plan for health care reform and his blueprint for education through bigotry, plain and simple. Their agenda is to confuse the public and distort his message with propaganda.
S. C. Republican Rep. Joe Wilson, during the President’s joint message to Congress called Mr. Obama a liar, and Fox News Channel commentator Glenn Beck said he believes President Barack Obama is a racist.
Do Hannity and Wilson respect the president as the holder of the highest office in the land and the most powerful man in the world, or just a Black man whom they have no reason to respect?
Have they ever asked themselves what are the defining characteristics of being "white" or "black" in America today? Is it solely a matter of skin color? Probably in their eyes, Mr. Obama is linked to the only group to have involuntarily immigrated to the United States, and have been forcibly stripped of its culture, not realizing that African or black Americans has as a group yet to receive its fair share of the American dream. In my opinion, they have racially stereotyped the President of the United States.
Unfortunately racial stereotypes are still alive and well in this country despite progressive steps to eliminate it. But the media and many politicians as well, consistently use negative images to portray African-Americans. These stereo- types are not accurate and African-Americans are unfairly and unrealistically portrayed on television and other forms of media. Among the responsibilities of journalists and politicians is to meaningful link persons of African descent accurately to their ancestral past, but what have we seen during Mr. Obama’s short term in office? We have witnessed a conspiracy by members the media and many conservatives to disrupt town hall meetings, force media outlets to cover the Tea Parties, investigate President Obama’s birth certificate, and attack public officials and Obama supporters.
Mr. Obama’s Presidency is historical and it is a defining role in the growth of the country. It highlights one of the many contributions of Black Americans that have influenced our culture, enriched our society and is shaping the history of the United States. So how can the Right be so wrong?
I would like President Obama to remember a poem by Langston Hughes:
I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen when company comes,
But I laugh, and eat well, and grow strong.
Tomorrow, I'll be at the table when company comes.
Nobody'll dare say to me, "Eat in the kitchen,"
Then, besides, they'll see how beautiful I am, and be ashamed--
I, too, am America.
I can be reached by e-mail at: berhay@swbell.net
Hotep!
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Re-examining The Team Four Plan!
August 21, 2009
When you hear the word segregation many persons think of the South. It bring back memories of lunch counter sit-ins, the March to Montgomery, Selma and other civil rights battles of the 1960s, but a better example can be found right here in the Bi-State region, particularly in the St. Louis metropolitan area. Despite what the surveys disclose St. Louis is one of the 10 most-segregated metropolitan locales for blacks in the nation, and it will probably continue to be.
The issue of racial disparities in St. Louis and the Bi-State region is emerging as one of the most pressing social and economic concerns facing African Americans, because the nation’s inner cities are being gentrified at an alarming rate, displacing a large section of our population.
African Americans, American Indians, Asian Americans, Latinos, and members of other communities of color are not always included in Missouri and Illinois success stories.
Gentrification can only occur in neighborhoods where there is low ownership by those that live and do business in the neighborhood, and as we know, we do not own very much
The decline of our cities, the flight to the suburbs, private and charter schools, teacher shortages, and the outplacement of jobs to other countries, economic downturns and declining tax bases and many other factors have contributed to our current situation, but how and why did this happen?
Many blame it on what is commonly known as The Team Four Plan.
Team Four, Inc. was hired by the City’s Planning Commission in 1973 to prepare a city-wide comprehensive planning study, an update to the City’s 1947 Comprehensive Plan. This plan recommended “A New Concept for a New Town in the City."
This proposal included an Area of New Development: to the North, Delmar Boulevard, to the South, Lafayette and I-44, to the East, the North-South Distributor and to the West, Vandeventer and Thirty-ninth Street.
The concept of a New Town in the City was based primarily on the idea of creating a quality environment that incorporates the luxury of suburban living with the convenience and vitality of city living. The plan was backed by the Urban Growth and New Community Development Act of 1970, which supplements existing city, state and federal mechanisms to encourage major new private investments.
Public records illustrate the process of creating a new town in the City of St. Louis. The documents tell "It would be located in the midtown area just west of the Central Business District including Lafayette Square, Laclede Town and the proposed area of new development. The "New Town" would cover a total of 1250 acres; with units estimated at 18,500, this development would house 40,000 to 50,000 people of various socio-economic backgrounds." Do you recognize the results of this plan? Can you tell the plan was implemented?
Who was excluded? What neighborhoods and communities would NOT and did not benefit from these illustrious plans? What community was and will be underserved or have services depleted or curtailed? What hospitals and schools were targeted to close? Whose tax base was targeted for erosion? Where are the industrial parks being built? Who recommended the reduction of Aldermanic Wards in North St. Louis?
What we witnessed and are now experiencing is another form of gentrification and red-lining. Are you aware the FHA underwrote mortgages only in predominantly white neighborhoods, excluding blacks from the "largest wealth-building program" in the history of our country? Did you know the Federal Public Works Program divided thriving black and ethnic white neighborhoods?
North St. Louis was and is the victim of a U.S. Government conspiracy. In the area of unfair lending HUD took the leading role in the history of racial discrimination in mortgage lending.
Redlining is a reality in African American communities across the United States. It is a practice which discriminates against Blacks of all economic sectors when they apply for home and business loans and consumer credit. Blacks, more than any other racial or ethnic group receive less credit.
The federal and local Urban Renewal programs, that moved people from homes to public housing projects, was soon referred to as Negro Removal.
Following World War II, and continuing into the early 1970s, "urban renewal" referred primarily to public efforts to revitalize aging and decaying inner cities, although some suburban communities undertook such projects as well. Including massive demolition, slum clearance, and rehabilitation, urban renewal proceeded initially from local and state legislation.
Urban Renewal or Negro Removal also destroyed the Mill Creek Valley area.
According to city records, "in 1951, Missouri Governor Forrest Smith signed the Municipal Land Clearance for Redevelopment Law, which brought state aid to the urban renewal efforts of Missouri's cities." The law also created the St. Louis Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority, whose job it was to oversee urban renewal in Saint Louis and manage its funding.
Under the 1954 Federal Housing Act - which provided federal aid for renewal projects - and the passage in 1955 of a $110 million bond issue, Mayor Tucker and the City of St. Louis began the clearance and demolition of slums in Mill Creek Valley.
The most of the bond revenue went towards construction of new expressways, some of which cut through parts of Mill Creek. Roughly $10 million was utilized for slum clearance. The clearance of the area would involve the relocation of many residents and businesses; most residents would never return and many businesses would cease operations.
Was this the model for Team Four? Do you recognize how the Federal Works Programs devastated the African American community? It divided the African American community and sapped the strength from the political voting base.
Did Highway 40 and Highway 70 make life better for you or just more convenient? This program polarized the city and created divisions we are yet trying to amend. The voting strength of the African American community was ruined.
This is all of public information. It is mostly hidden, but it is public.
Please listen to my radio talk show, along with my co-host State Representative Rev. James T. Morris where we will be discussing these and other issues that are important to you. We can be heard Monday through Friday from 7 am -8 am on WGNU-AM 920 AM, following The Doug Eason Show.
I can be reached by e-mail at: berhay@swbell.net
Have a great day.
Bernie
When you hear the word segregation many persons think of the South. It bring back memories of lunch counter sit-ins, the March to Montgomery, Selma and other civil rights battles of the 1960s, but a better example can be found right here in the Bi-State region, particularly in the St. Louis metropolitan area. Despite what the surveys disclose St. Louis is one of the 10 most-segregated metropolitan locales for blacks in the nation, and it will probably continue to be.
The issue of racial disparities in St. Louis and the Bi-State region is emerging as one of the most pressing social and economic concerns facing African Americans, because the nation’s inner cities are being gentrified at an alarming rate, displacing a large section of our population.
African Americans, American Indians, Asian Americans, Latinos, and members of other communities of color are not always included in Missouri and Illinois success stories.
Gentrification can only occur in neighborhoods where there is low ownership by those that live and do business in the neighborhood, and as we know, we do not own very much
The decline of our cities, the flight to the suburbs, private and charter schools, teacher shortages, and the outplacement of jobs to other countries, economic downturns and declining tax bases and many other factors have contributed to our current situation, but how and why did this happen?
Many blame it on what is commonly known as The Team Four Plan.
Team Four, Inc. was hired by the City’s Planning Commission in 1973 to prepare a city-wide comprehensive planning study, an update to the City’s 1947 Comprehensive Plan. This plan recommended “A New Concept for a New Town in the City."
This proposal included an Area of New Development: to the North, Delmar Boulevard, to the South, Lafayette and I-44, to the East, the North-South Distributor and to the West, Vandeventer and Thirty-ninth Street.
The concept of a New Town in the City was based primarily on the idea of creating a quality environment that incorporates the luxury of suburban living with the convenience and vitality of city living. The plan was backed by the Urban Growth and New Community Development Act of 1970, which supplements existing city, state and federal mechanisms to encourage major new private investments.
Public records illustrate the process of creating a new town in the City of St. Louis. The documents tell "It would be located in the midtown area just west of the Central Business District including Lafayette Square, Laclede Town and the proposed area of new development. The "New Town" would cover a total of 1250 acres; with units estimated at 18,500, this development would house 40,000 to 50,000 people of various socio-economic backgrounds." Do you recognize the results of this plan? Can you tell the plan was implemented?
Who was excluded? What neighborhoods and communities would NOT and did not benefit from these illustrious plans? What community was and will be underserved or have services depleted or curtailed? What hospitals and schools were targeted to close? Whose tax base was targeted for erosion? Where are the industrial parks being built? Who recommended the reduction of Aldermanic Wards in North St. Louis?
What we witnessed and are now experiencing is another form of gentrification and red-lining. Are you aware the FHA underwrote mortgages only in predominantly white neighborhoods, excluding blacks from the "largest wealth-building program" in the history of our country? Did you know the Federal Public Works Program divided thriving black and ethnic white neighborhoods?
North St. Louis was and is the victim of a U.S. Government conspiracy. In the area of unfair lending HUD took the leading role in the history of racial discrimination in mortgage lending.
Redlining is a reality in African American communities across the United States. It is a practice which discriminates against Blacks of all economic sectors when they apply for home and business loans and consumer credit. Blacks, more than any other racial or ethnic group receive less credit.
The federal and local Urban Renewal programs, that moved people from homes to public housing projects, was soon referred to as Negro Removal.
Following World War II, and continuing into the early 1970s, "urban renewal" referred primarily to public efforts to revitalize aging and decaying inner cities, although some suburban communities undertook such projects as well. Including massive demolition, slum clearance, and rehabilitation, urban renewal proceeded initially from local and state legislation.
Urban Renewal or Negro Removal also destroyed the Mill Creek Valley area.
According to city records, "in 1951, Missouri Governor Forrest Smith signed the Municipal Land Clearance for Redevelopment Law, which brought state aid to the urban renewal efforts of Missouri's cities." The law also created the St. Louis Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority, whose job it was to oversee urban renewal in Saint Louis and manage its funding.
Under the 1954 Federal Housing Act - which provided federal aid for renewal projects - and the passage in 1955 of a $110 million bond issue, Mayor Tucker and the City of St. Louis began the clearance and demolition of slums in Mill Creek Valley.
The most of the bond revenue went towards construction of new expressways, some of which cut through parts of Mill Creek. Roughly $10 million was utilized for slum clearance. The clearance of the area would involve the relocation of many residents and businesses; most residents would never return and many businesses would cease operations.
Was this the model for Team Four? Do you recognize how the Federal Works Programs devastated the African American community? It divided the African American community and sapped the strength from the political voting base.
Did Highway 40 and Highway 70 make life better for you or just more convenient? This program polarized the city and created divisions we are yet trying to amend. The voting strength of the African American community was ruined.
This is all of public information. It is mostly hidden, but it is public.
Please listen to my radio talk show, along with my co-host State Representative Rev. James T. Morris where we will be discussing these and other issues that are important to you. We can be heard Monday through Friday from 7 am -8 am on WGNU-AM 920 AM, following The Doug Eason Show.
I can be reached by e-mail at: berhay@swbell.net
Have a great day.
Bernie
Monday, July 13, 2009
Disappearing Voices and Vanishing History!
July 13, 2009
It has been said that he who controls the past controls the future. Our view of history shapes the way we view the present, and therefore it dictates what answers we offer for existing problems.
Until very recently, our history has been almost completely lost due to a combination of fraud, omission, distortion, historical accident, mistaken assumptions, and misplaced historical documents. We must realize and understand that other cultures devote much time and effort to teaching their children family history.
We surely cannot forget the amount of media coverage that was devoted to the passing of Michael Jackson, but only just a few weeks ago we lost two of our most important scholars and teachers and except for the Black Press, hardly any coverage was dedicated to the passing of Dr. John Hope Franklin or Dr. Ivan Van Sertima.
I mention this matter because while Michael deserved all of the attention that he received, Franklin and Van Sertima were essential in making it possible for Michael to compete and achieve in this complex and somewhat racially polarized society.
Dr. John Hope Franklin passed on March 25, 2009. He was best known for his work From Slavery to Freedom, first published in 1947, and continually updated. More than three million copies have been sold. In 1995, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.
In the early 1950s, Franklin served on the NAACP Legal Defense Fund team led by Thurgood Marshall that helped develop the case for Brown V. Board of Education that led to the 1954 U. S. Supreme Court decision ending the legal segregation of black and white children in public schools.
Dr. Franklin’s works are so numerous that I would have to devote an entire column just to list a few his publications. He should have been remembered and recognized by more than a few seconds in a newscast.
Dr. Ivan Van Sertima and Dr. Franklin were heroes and highly influential individuals. Their approach to history was through pride and love for African Americans and all people.
Dr. Van Sertima came to the United States in 1970, where he completed his post graduate studies at Rutgers University in New Jersey. He began his teaching career as an instructor at Rutgers in 1972, and later became Professor of African studies in the Department of Africana Studies.
Van Sertima was a literary critic, a linguist, and an anthropologist, and made a name for him in all three fields. As a linguist, he was the compiler of the Swahili Dictionary of Legal Terms, based on his field word in Tanzania, East Africa in 1967. As a literary critic, he was the author of Caribbean Writers, a collection of critical essays on the Caribbean novel.
He was also the author of several major literary reviews published in Denmark, India, Britain, and the United States. He was recognized for his work in this field by being requested by the Nobel Committee of the Swedish Academy to nominate candidates for the Nobel Prize in Literature from 1976 to 1980.
The cornerstone of Dr. Van Sertima's legacy will probably be his authorship of "They Came before Columbus: the African Presence in Ancient America."
In 1979 Dr. Van Sertima founded the Journal of African Civilizations which quickly gained a reputation for excellence and uniqueness among historical and anthropological journals. Van Sertima wrote: "The destruction of African high-cultures after the massive and continuous invasions of Europe left many Africans surviving on the periphery or outer ring of what constituted the best in African civilizations."
Our ancestors define who we are, and we must remember the teachings of Dr. John Henrik Clarke who reminded us that: "Africa and its people are the most written about and the least understood of all of the world's people. This condition started in the 15th and the 16th centuries with the beginning of the slave trade and the colonialism system. The Europeans not only colonialized most of the world, they began to colonialize information about the world and its people. In order to do this, they had to forget, or pretend to forget, all they had previously known about the Africans. They were not meeting them for the first time; there had been another meeting during Greek and Roman times. At that time they complemented each other."
We must not forget the lessons taught by Dr. Chancellor Williams, or Dr. Leonard Jeffries. We have to read, and encourage others to read.
Everyone should be interested in this crucial and ongoing debate. We should read A.J. Roger's “From Superman to Man," "100 Amazing Facts about the Negro," and "The World's Great Men of Color."
Goodbye Michael, John and Ivan.
I can be reached by fax at (314) 837-3349 or by e-mail at: berhay@swbell.net.
It has been said that he who controls the past controls the future. Our view of history shapes the way we view the present, and therefore it dictates what answers we offer for existing problems.
Until very recently, our history has been almost completely lost due to a combination of fraud, omission, distortion, historical accident, mistaken assumptions, and misplaced historical documents. We must realize and understand that other cultures devote much time and effort to teaching their children family history.
We surely cannot forget the amount of media coverage that was devoted to the passing of Michael Jackson, but only just a few weeks ago we lost two of our most important scholars and teachers and except for the Black Press, hardly any coverage was dedicated to the passing of Dr. John Hope Franklin or Dr. Ivan Van Sertima.
I mention this matter because while Michael deserved all of the attention that he received, Franklin and Van Sertima were essential in making it possible for Michael to compete and achieve in this complex and somewhat racially polarized society.
Dr. John Hope Franklin passed on March 25, 2009. He was best known for his work From Slavery to Freedom, first published in 1947, and continually updated. More than three million copies have been sold. In 1995, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.
In the early 1950s, Franklin served on the NAACP Legal Defense Fund team led by Thurgood Marshall that helped develop the case for Brown V. Board of Education that led to the 1954 U. S. Supreme Court decision ending the legal segregation of black and white children in public schools.
Dr. Franklin’s works are so numerous that I would have to devote an entire column just to list a few his publications. He should have been remembered and recognized by more than a few seconds in a newscast.
Dr. Ivan Van Sertima and Dr. Franklin were heroes and highly influential individuals. Their approach to history was through pride and love for African Americans and all people.
Dr. Van Sertima came to the United States in 1970, where he completed his post graduate studies at Rutgers University in New Jersey. He began his teaching career as an instructor at Rutgers in 1972, and later became Professor of African studies in the Department of Africana Studies.
Van Sertima was a literary critic, a linguist, and an anthropologist, and made a name for him in all three fields. As a linguist, he was the compiler of the Swahili Dictionary of Legal Terms, based on his field word in Tanzania, East Africa in 1967. As a literary critic, he was the author of Caribbean Writers, a collection of critical essays on the Caribbean novel.
He was also the author of several major literary reviews published in Denmark, India, Britain, and the United States. He was recognized for his work in this field by being requested by the Nobel Committee of the Swedish Academy to nominate candidates for the Nobel Prize in Literature from 1976 to 1980.
The cornerstone of Dr. Van Sertima's legacy will probably be his authorship of "They Came before Columbus: the African Presence in Ancient America."
In 1979 Dr. Van Sertima founded the Journal of African Civilizations which quickly gained a reputation for excellence and uniqueness among historical and anthropological journals. Van Sertima wrote: "The destruction of African high-cultures after the massive and continuous invasions of Europe left many Africans surviving on the periphery or outer ring of what constituted the best in African civilizations."
Our ancestors define who we are, and we must remember the teachings of Dr. John Henrik Clarke who reminded us that: "Africa and its people are the most written about and the least understood of all of the world's people. This condition started in the 15th and the 16th centuries with the beginning of the slave trade and the colonialism system. The Europeans not only colonialized most of the world, they began to colonialize information about the world and its people. In order to do this, they had to forget, or pretend to forget, all they had previously known about the Africans. They were not meeting them for the first time; there had been another meeting during Greek and Roman times. At that time they complemented each other."
We must not forget the lessons taught by Dr. Chancellor Williams, or Dr. Leonard Jeffries. We have to read, and encourage others to read.
Everyone should be interested in this crucial and ongoing debate. We should read A.J. Roger's “From Superman to Man," "100 Amazing Facts about the Negro," and "The World's Great Men of Color."
Goodbye Michael, John and Ivan.
I can be reached by fax at (314) 837-3349 or by e-mail at: berhay@swbell.net.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Goodbye to Soul Music
June 18, 2009
Every February, we recognize and appreciate black history, but every day a part of our culture is steady slipping away and we appear to just let it happen. I am speaking of soul music. The tradition of soul or rhythm and blues music as we know it could die out completely on radio stations that employ programmers who do not know the importance of black music, or just don't care in this hip-hop oriented society.
While most radio stations directed to the African American market consider themselves servicing the best R&B and hip-hop, the artists reflects music directed to teens and young adults only. The top rated songs on the Billboard R&B/Soul and blues chart features Keri Hilson and Kanye West. They are certainly not what the average black music fan would consider R&B. Not even Shirley Brown with a hit on the southern blues charts made in it into the top 50 on Billboard while Jamie Foxx has three entries. How do the programmers now define R&B? Are Shirley Brown, Renee Smith, Barbara Carr, Otis Clay, Uvee Hayes, Willie Clayton and Latimore too black for black stations?
Soon, this music and these performers will be just a memory to the black community and become a stepchild of the genre such as the blues has become. You are witnessing the death of soul music. The recording industry is increasingly turning to young artists, ranging from Beyonce to Lil Kim to Jenifer Hudson and ignoring the true, dedicated soul artists that paved the way. Denise LaSalle, Lee Shot Williams, Mel Waiters, Marvin Sease and other soul artists must fight for the few spots offered by the southern blues and soul stations in small to medium markets to hope for any recognition, personal appearances or CD sales.
Some of our major urban cities including Atlanta, Memphis and Chicago are abandoning the artists that made their stations so powerful. St. Louis does not have a soul station after the format change at WESL. Except for KDHX you probably won’t be hearing much T. Bone Walker, Guitar Slim, Chuck Strong, Floyd Taylor, Sonny Boy Williamson, Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf, Elmore James or Otis Spann.
From 1915 to 1929, great waves of blacks migrated from the south to the north. Memphis, St. Louis and Chicago greeted them with jobs in factories, stockyards and mailrooms and they depended on the black newspapers for information and the church or Juke joints for religious or social activities. In the '40s and '50s the personality black disc jockeys appeared and the focus of black life turned to the radio and black people were enlightened and entertained and informed by their social groups and equals.
The June 2000 edition of Ebony magazine stated 'for four centuries, from the arrival of the first Blacks in English America in 1619 to the hip-hops of the Millennium, African-Americans have dominated American music and dance. Black music, in fact, is America's only original music, and the Spirituals-Blues-Jazz-Gospel-Charleston-Twist-Hip Hop gift is the foundation not only of rhythm and blues but also of Broadway, the Grammys and Elvis et al.'
Now, we have virtually nothing, and that what we do have we don't own. There is no commitment and perhaps no future for the African American soul artist. Some believe that images and concepts portrayed in Hip Hop and Rap music are eroding values in the Black community. The music industry is dying because were are losing or abandoning the oral tradition of folk sermon, spirituals, blues, ballad, while succumbing to rap and hip hop. Johnnie Taylor, "Little" Johnnie Taylor, KoKo Taylor, Little Milton, Oliver Sain, Ike Turner, Minnie Ripperton, Tyrone Davis, Luther Ingram, Otis Reading, Rufus Thomas and others made these radio stations the powers they have become, and their place on American music must not be underestimated.
These African-American men and women dedicated their lives to making this art. We must at least attempt to keep the music alive.
I can be reached by fax at (314) 837-3369 or by e-mail at: berhay@swbel.net
Hotep!
Every February, we recognize and appreciate black history, but every day a part of our culture is steady slipping away and we appear to just let it happen. I am speaking of soul music. The tradition of soul or rhythm and blues music as we know it could die out completely on radio stations that employ programmers who do not know the importance of black music, or just don't care in this hip-hop oriented society.
While most radio stations directed to the African American market consider themselves servicing the best R&B and hip-hop, the artists reflects music directed to teens and young adults only. The top rated songs on the Billboard R&B/Soul and blues chart features Keri Hilson and Kanye West. They are certainly not what the average black music fan would consider R&B. Not even Shirley Brown with a hit on the southern blues charts made in it into the top 50 on Billboard while Jamie Foxx has three entries. How do the programmers now define R&B? Are Shirley Brown, Renee Smith, Barbara Carr, Otis Clay, Uvee Hayes, Willie Clayton and Latimore too black for black stations?
Soon, this music and these performers will be just a memory to the black community and become a stepchild of the genre such as the blues has become. You are witnessing the death of soul music. The recording industry is increasingly turning to young artists, ranging from Beyonce to Lil Kim to Jenifer Hudson and ignoring the true, dedicated soul artists that paved the way. Denise LaSalle, Lee Shot Williams, Mel Waiters, Marvin Sease and other soul artists must fight for the few spots offered by the southern blues and soul stations in small to medium markets to hope for any recognition, personal appearances or CD sales.
Some of our major urban cities including Atlanta, Memphis and Chicago are abandoning the artists that made their stations so powerful. St. Louis does not have a soul station after the format change at WESL. Except for KDHX you probably won’t be hearing much T. Bone Walker, Guitar Slim, Chuck Strong, Floyd Taylor, Sonny Boy Williamson, Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf, Elmore James or Otis Spann.
From 1915 to 1929, great waves of blacks migrated from the south to the north. Memphis, St. Louis and Chicago greeted them with jobs in factories, stockyards and mailrooms and they depended on the black newspapers for information and the church or Juke joints for religious or social activities. In the '40s and '50s the personality black disc jockeys appeared and the focus of black life turned to the radio and black people were enlightened and entertained and informed by their social groups and equals.
The June 2000 edition of Ebony magazine stated 'for four centuries, from the arrival of the first Blacks in English America in 1619 to the hip-hops of the Millennium, African-Americans have dominated American music and dance. Black music, in fact, is America's only original music, and the Spirituals-Blues-Jazz-Gospel-Charleston-Twist-Hip Hop gift is the foundation not only of rhythm and blues but also of Broadway, the Grammys and Elvis et al.'
Now, we have virtually nothing, and that what we do have we don't own. There is no commitment and perhaps no future for the African American soul artist. Some believe that images and concepts portrayed in Hip Hop and Rap music are eroding values in the Black community. The music industry is dying because were are losing or abandoning the oral tradition of folk sermon, spirituals, blues, ballad, while succumbing to rap and hip hop. Johnnie Taylor, "Little" Johnnie Taylor, KoKo Taylor, Little Milton, Oliver Sain, Ike Turner, Minnie Ripperton, Tyrone Davis, Luther Ingram, Otis Reading, Rufus Thomas and others made these radio stations the powers they have become, and their place on American music must not be underestimated.
These African-American men and women dedicated their lives to making this art. We must at least attempt to keep the music alive.
I can be reached by fax at (314) 837-3369 or by e-mail at: berhay@swbel.net
Hotep!
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