New Melting Pots

There is a section of Atlanta called the historic West end where African Americans are being priced out due to gentrification.

On any given day,  one will see African Americans, who are in the majority, frequent the mall, transit station, and red brick storefronts reminiscent of small towns in Georgia decades ago.  It is one of the many areas of the city claimed by African Americans after whites fled for the suburbs in the 50s and 60s.  Now they want it back.  Before the white flight,  blacks built proud neighborhoods, colleges, and small businesses alongside their white neighbors.  Despite this,  the elderly and misinformed may be forced to leave even though the last mayor,  who was African American, told them to hold on to their homes for the next generation,  while the present mayor,  a black woman,  is creating ways for seniors and the poor to stay in the houses they love.

However, she may hit a roadblock in her efforts to keep disadvantaged citizens in their homes in the West End and other parts of Atlanta.  Home prices throughout the city have doubled or tripled following the housing slump due to a grave shortage of available new homes and a robust economy.  When real estate prices increase, it adversely affects property taxes,  forcing low-income residents to sell.

I moved to Atlanta's West End three years ago.  I feared it beforehand.  Since then,  I have learned that it is sexy cool, and proper, like blacks in rural Georgia in the '60s and '70s.  Adair Park,  one of the area's best-kept secrets,  has become a haven for black high school reunions and other get-togethers just down the street from where I live.  The Mechanicsville and Pittsburgh neighborhoods, which survive as a testament to their middle and working-class roots before being hit by the crack and heroin epidemic of the eighties, are making a surprising comeback.

Martin Luther King, Jr. fought for the area in the sixties.  He and others dramatized its poverty and neglect.  He also praised its progress and bought a home near Morehouse College,  where he attended school.

Like the Westend, other areas of Atlanta exist where African Americans have lost their footing in recent years or where there has been an influx of well-to-do newcomers.  In the early 2000s, Kirkwood, Candler Park, and other communities on Atlanta's Eastside virtually flipped from majority black to majority white.  Neighborhoods in The Old Fourth Ward on the city's Northside soon followed suit, with many of the poor unable to remain in the homes they had lived in for generations.  It is a crisis the city must fix.

White and middle-class African Americans moving back to the inner city of Atlanta is o.k. as long as locals are not displaced.  It could help strengthen communities or provide more opportunities for a better way of life. However, the primary goal should be to keep these areas intact so that lifelong residents and newcomers can enjoy them.

Georgia Leader Makes History

Georgia State Representative Stacy Abrams shocked the world of politics when she became the first African American woman nominated by a major party for governor and handily defeated her moderate Democratic rival,  also a woman, in Georgia's Democratic Primary for what is expected to be an uphill battle for the state's governorship.

Abrams,  however, made a name for herself long before her stunning victory in the Georgia Democratic Primary for governor.

Abrams' road to success started in her youth.  She was raised by hardworking parents in Gulfport, Mississippi, and Atlanta, Georgia, who emphasized education and community involvement.  As a high school honors student, she worked as a typist for a Congressional campaign and was promoted to speechwriter because of her writing ability and grasp of current events. After graduation,  she enrolled in Spelman College to study Economics, Political Science, and Sociology.  While there,  she was hired by the mayor's office to mentor troubled youth.  After graduating Magnum Cum Laude with a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies,  she earned her J.D. from Yale University and later an MPA from the University of Texas-Austin, as she was on her way to stake her claim in law and politics.

She was hired by one of Atlanta's top law firms. She handled cases involving tax-exempt organizations, healthcare, and public finance.  Abram was also appointed Deputy City Attorney for Atlanta in her twenties. 

Abrams entered politics in 2006.  She won a seat in the Georgia General Assembly as a State Representative and assumed office in 2007.  One of her accomplishments has been to preserve Georgia's H.O.P.E. Scholarship, which helps deserving students pay for most of their college education. In 2011,  Abrams' Democratic colleagues in the House voted her Minority Leader for her leadership ability.

After serving ten years in the Georgia General Assembly,  Abrams threw her hat into the 2018 race for governor.  She received over 70 percent of the vote against her moderate white female opponent in the State Democratic Primary by taking a progressive stance on education and economic development.  She and other Democrats believe the party can take back the governor's office by energizing the base instead of reaching out to Conservatives against her potential GOP challenger,  who's locked in a run-off.  She will either face Secretary of State Brian Kemp,  who's seen as a throwback to Georgia's segregationist past,  or Lt. Governor Casey Cagle, who has the backing of the GOP establishment.

Whomever Abrams faces in the general election for governor of Georgia,  Democrats realize it will be a hard-fought battle.  She will have to run up the score in Metro Atlanta, pick off predominantly black counties in middle and South Georgia, and do well in communities where blacks are half the population.  She must also pound away at issues important to all Georgians.  By doing so,  she will be the victor. 

Source:  Wikipedia

Democrats, Republicans Battle In Georgia

Like other states, Georgia is embroiled in a mid-season election that could be one of the most contentious in State history.

Democrats and Republicans have been charged with fighting for the soul of their party or steering it to the hard right or left.

After a heated primary contest, Republicans are pitting two bitter rivals against each other in the run-off for the GOP nomination for governor.  Secretary of State Brian Kemp, while running one of the most discouraging campaigns in Georgia history, will face Lt. Governor Casey Cagle in July.  Earlier in the campaign,  Kemp ran an ad promising to round up illegal immigrants in his pickup truck and take them back across the border to Mexico,  which garnered him national attention.  He also displayed a rifle in one commercial in support of the Second Amendment.  The candidate labels himself an unapologetic, unconventional conservative in the spirit of Trump.

On the other hand,  Lt. Governor Casey Cagle, who finished first among Republicans in the primary for governor and has the backing of the GOP standard-bearer,  has pledged to run a more conventional race for the state's highest office.  Unlike Kemp,  Cagle promises not to engage in gimmicks to get votes but to emphasize Georgia's growing economy,  a need to strengthen public education, and a sensible approach to immigration to not offend other groups in a state that is becoming less white,  unlike others in the GOP.  If he succeeds,  he will have the help of moderates or independent voters to thank.

Like Republicans,  Democrats seem divided on how to take back the governorship.  Stacy Abrams,  who defeated her Democratic rival handily in the primary to become the first African American woman nominated by a major party for governor,  ran a back-to-the-basics campaign that she plans to continue in the general election.  Abrams thinks Democrats can win without pandering to Republicans or moderates due to shifting demographics and a hatred for Trump that looks promising for the Democratic Party. She feels that reaching out to other groups has not worked in the past and that it is best to energize the base.  But regardless of Abram's big victory over her more conservative opponent,  there are still those in her ranks who strongly feel she will have to appeal to outsiders in what is expected to be a tight race to help close the gap. They have big plans if she wins and doesn't want to leave anything to chance.

Whether Republicans hold on to the governorship in Georgia or Democrats upstage them,  the State will be on a markedly different course for the first time since 1970.

African Americans and the Law

African Americans have endured the downside of law enforcement since slavery.  Whether it was the slave catcher,  the Northern police, the Southern sheriff during Jim Crow, or the angry patrolmen of today,  we have encountered negative policing with the battle scars to prove it.

The desperate relationship between African Americans and the police,  which seems to have worsened in recent years, won't get any better as long as law enforcement refuses to do a full-scale inspection or see anything wrong,  which means we must divide and conquer to succeed.

I am not advocating violence or massive resistance to bring about change in the country's legal system, or that we get caught up in the hype of fighting law enforcement in the streets.  Instead, bad officers must be rooted out by the courts or internal affairs with irrefutable evidence of wrongdoings in conjunction with community policing.  Peaceful marches to uphold the Constitution could also prove helpful even in a country bitterly divided. 

Appealing to the U.S. State Department or the United Nations may be another option to dramatize police brutality in the U.S.  Other people or nations utilize such bodies to bring about international pressure or changes in human rights.  It would embarrass the U.S. in the eyes of Russia, China, North Korea, and other adversaries.

Lastly,  we must condemn violence in the black community, which is often met with improper law enforcement tactics.  Many law enforcement officers,  black or white,  see the black community through a tainted lens of crime, unemployment, and broken families instead of areas suffering the effects of years of neglect.  As a result,  they may employ undue pressure to restrain suspects or other forms of disrespect. 

Law enforcement represents the last vestige of Jim Crow in America, or the mistreatment of a group of Americans seemingly based on color.  It will only end with proper tactics or efforts needed to effect change,  such as pitting good officers against bad ones and exposing corruption where it exists.  It is a fight we must never give up when the cards are stacked against us.

In retrospect,  there is a movement in America right now aimed at teaching young black men how to react when confronted by cops that I would like to touch on.  Yes,  they must respect the law, but why aren't white or Asian young males being taught the same lesson?  Black men deserve the respect of other races of men when stopped or questioned by officers of the law because anything less than that is a return to slavery.

Morris Brown College

Many African American colleges and universities founded during the aftermath of slavery no longer exist today. Most fell victim to a lack of funding and integration, which expanded educational opportunities for blacks.  Others were forced to combine with nearby predominantly white institutions to stay afloat or retain some semblance of their past.

Morris Brown College in Atlanta,  Georgia, established in 1881, is one of those HBCUs holding on by a thread and may be forced to close its doors. The school that once hosted WEB Du Bois is a shell of its former self. The iconic stadium, dorms, and most classroom buildings are no longer in use or dilapidated, like an episode of Life Without People. Its remaining faculty and students number less than a hundred.  In its heyday, it educated future doctors, lawyers, and teachers who would go on to make a contribution to their community.  

The school's downward spiral or descent into oblivion started in the 1990s. First, it faced financial woes, which may have been due to the mismanagement of funds. Things got so bad that it could not pay its water bill. The final blow occurred when MBC lost its accreditation in 2002, and support from the United Negro College fund dried up, forcing nearly all students to flee for greener pastures elsewhere.

The shame surrounding MBC's steep decline is that the black community has lost or is in the process of losing another great institution of higher learning.  Just think about the thousands of young men and women who called it home or found their place in the world, dating back generations.  They studied hard, joined fraternities and sororities,  partied well into the night, played sports, or met their first love.  It was ours, one of our best, where a few die-hard pupils and teachers hung on until the bitter end.

Let's save MBC and others like it in the future. Yes, they are relevant in a society ripping apart.

Black Men Today

African American men make up six percent of the U.S. population.  We live in big cities and small towns in every part of the country.  Some of us are college graduates, factory workers, or white-collar employees seeking the American dream.

We also fight for our right to exist in this country and realize our dreams despite the many obstacles we face.  Without doing so,  we would be less than men in a world of opportunity. 

It is the hope of our forefathers that pushes us to be great, or not to give up.  We are expected to finish school, raise our sons, and be faithful to the community we call home, regardless of what others may think. We are pushed to lead in the military, on college campuses, or in the sports arena that men so love.

Despite such high expectations or faith in tomorrow,  society or those who may feel uneasy by black men target us. They do so with fear of a corrupt legal system that is supposed to keep us down or prevent us from rising to the top.  So, they restrict employment, arrest us en masse, or knock down businesses we have started, like during Jim Crow or a faulty notion called integration. The system also doubts our achievements or role in building this great country and the world. Worse than that,  those in charge seem to saddle us with government assistance instead of expanding the economy to include the inner city or rural America, which could help end senseless poverty everywhere.

However, as black men, we can be our own worst enemies.  It is not always outside forces wishing to control or disrupt our lives.  Black men make the decisions to break the law, leave their families, or drop out of school in record numbers, which breeds poverty in places where it is needed the least.  We have also failed to participate wholeheartedly in the free enterprise system in recent years, like other minority groups. If we don't acknowledge our faults, nothing will change or improve the black man's standing in America or the world.

I love being a black man. I always have. I love our style, politics, and determination to succeed. My only hope is that we realize our full potential or educate ourselves to the fullest so we can assume our rightful place in businesses, government, economics, and science, as at the turn of the twentieth century.  To have his own is what every man strives for.

The future looks bright for black men in America. A wealth of educational and economic opportunities awaits him in a growing economy. I am confident he can continue to prosper or feel good about himself in a world that may be indifferent to his background, culture, or appearance.  He will rise above it all like generations past and be proud at the end of the day.

Puerto Rico Left Behind

A category four hurricane hit Puerto Rico in early September of 2017, followed by an equally powerful storm two weeks later that nearly wiped the island off the face of the Earth.

It still suffers from massive infrastructure damage,  including widespread loss of power and clean drinking water, despite being a U. S. territory.

The Trump Administration,  like the Bush White House during Katrina, has dropped the ball in helping Puerto Rico rebuild. The administration points to logistics as the main reason for not responding with full force to the crisis there, which breaks the hearts of many.

The fact that Puerto Rico is located hundreds of miles off the coast of Florida and is surrounded by water on all sides shouldn't diminish its importance or the role we should play in rescuing it from the depths of despair. The U.S. helped rebuild Europe after World War II. Why not extend the same favor to American citizens? But Trump thinks that the only people worth his time are those of his base and that everyone else can fend for themselves.

Due to the dire situation on the island,  thousands have been in search of a safe haven in the continental U.S.  They seek medical care,  education for their children, and a decent place to live,  which seems out of reach today following one of the most devastating acts of nature in American History.  And due to a domestic policy geared toward exclusion by the current administration or a lack of concern for those perceived as "outsiders,"  their transition or efforts to overcome hardship will be doubly hard.

Maybe the Trump White House will one day emerge from a self-imposed exile and deal squarely with  Puerto Rico instead of reaching out exclusively or caring only about those who voted G.O.P. in the last presidential election.