5A
OPINIONS/charlotte $o«t
Thursday, June 1,2006
Nagin wins in
New Orleans,
now what?
Ray Nagin, incumbent mayor of New Orleans, defeated
Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu 52 to 48 in a stunning upset
in the runoff election for mayor that has pundits and politi
cians wondering how it happened and what happens next.
The wonder occurs because Nagin’s base is related to his
program. Nagin was widely expected to
loose since he needed more than the 6 per
cent of the white vote that he won on April
22. Powerful black ministers had drifted
toward Landrieu and none other than
Wynton Maraalis, the popular New
Orleans jazz trumpeter, had endorsed him.
But Nagin’s base reversed this time fix)m
his first election when he won 80 percent of
the white vote and 20 percent of the black
vote to just the opposite. One reason is that
for the black voter, neither Nagin nor
Landrieu gave them a sharp difference in their program to
restore the dty which left them to practice the black
politics lhat has been traditional since 1978, That also left
just enoi^ of Ihe white vote to return to Nagin, who
believed he would protect their interests against the more
liberal Landrieu.
The substantial blade turnout of 40 percent increased
above the 31 percent in the April 22 election, also giving
some indication that blacks were looking beyond Nagin,
investing their faith in the restoration of the New Orleans
to the dty they knew and Nagin became ffie vehide for
such aspirations.They drove and bused into the election in
large numbers and even though some of the voting
precincts were chained again since the April 22 election,
they were able to make the difference in this election.
A veritable army of volunteers, xmder the leadership of
the Louisiana Voter Rights Coalition, the National Urban
League, the NAACP, the National Rainbow Coalition, the
National Action Network, ReBirild Hope Now and many
legal dvil ri^ts oiganizations, came together to assist
black turnout. They facilitated the movement of buses and
cars into the proper poUing precinct stations, provided
technical assistance such as information to voters on their
ri^ts, protection of their ballot status, encouraged provi
sional voting and, in short, doing many of the things that
together were critically important to tiie result.
When the history of this election is written, it should not
be just about Nagin’s attractiveness — also the attractive
ness of Rev Jesse Jackson, Rev. A1 Sharpton, Marc Morial,
and others - but about the political infrastrucutre that
assisted in opening up the process. Their monumental
efforts overcame the barriers in the voting process set up
by the state and approved by the U. S. Justice Department,
so that will be no legal challenge to this election is war
ranted.
Now that Nagin is the mayor so what? As I indicated pre
viously, he will be in a position to spend more money than
any major in America with tiie possible exception of New
York City and Los Alleles. The dty has been allotted a fed
eral appropriation that contains such funds as: $6.2biLlion
for housing and infrastructure repair, $8 billion for incen
tives to businesses to return and repair, $1.2 billion for
hazard mitigation and other funding.
Nagin promised during the campaign to "hit the groimd
running” on rehabilitating the dty but after winning he
has taken a more cautious approach to the neighborhood
problem. The reason is lhat the proposals of the commis
sion he established that called for a "smaller footprint” of
Ihe dty and hinted that people would not be able to rebuild
in the worst flooded areas flaigelyAfrican-Amaican) was
resoundingly Of^sed by blacks. Now that they are his
main political base, he is moving more slowly promising
that he will take 100 days, see how the rebuilding process
moves and after the end of the year, proposals for
land use.
A major question in my mind is whether the power cen
ters in the state wfll allow Nagin to spend the money like
the dtizens want. One key is that although he endorsed
Rep. Bobby Jindal, a conservative Republican, Jindal was
nowhere to be seen in the election celebration. Will the
Republican pohtidans who controlled the State House
keep their hands out of the large pot of New Orleans
money? TOll the governor attempt to control it, or the
White House? The questions are posed by Ihe state
involvement in the election. And a recent example is that
a local black judge voided all prosecutions that involved
public defenders, since not enough are functioning and
' poor defendants are reposed. But the attorney general is
examining a reversal of this act.
So, the election in New Orleans is over, now the battle for
black self determination begins aU over again.
RON WALTERS is the Distinguished Leadership Scholar,
Director of the African American Leadership Institute and
Professor of Government and Politics cU the University of Maryland
College Park.
James
Clingman
Building generation
of entrepreneurs
Are you ready for some good news? Lord knows we need some.
The world is going who knows where, with blade people at the
head of the line.
We have spying, lying, and conniving by our government, and
nudear coidHct on the horizon, you know we need some good news.
Well, you came to the right place; I have some outstanding news to
share with you. It’s about o\ir young people, positive, conscious,
serious youi^ people with whom I spent time and addressed dur-
ir^ their graduation ceremonies.
In 2002, after getting our local Entrepreneurship
High School opened, I remember saying, “Four
years from now I will be smiling likp a doting
father as I watch tihe first graduating dass take
Iheir walk and pickup their diplomas ” On May 24,
I did exactiy that. I proudly watched what were
shy and reserved ninth-graders fom years ago,
stand up and receive the recognition they truly
deserve, having won local and national business
plan competitions, havii^ traveled to various dries
fiom coast to coast, and after finiabirig what they
started.
The Entrepreneurship High School in Cincinnati, the first of its
kind, initially funded by the BOl and Melinda Gates Fovmdation,
provided the students with an opportunity not only to learn how to
become business owners and managers, it also gave the students
the confidence and independence they will need to navigate
through this convoluted sodety of ours and, if need be, to rely on
the job that they own rath^ than someone else’s job, which can be
taken away at a moment’s notice.
Watching “my” young people as they came to the stage to receive
their diplomas was one of the proudest moments of my fife and
somethir^ I could never fully describe. Suffice it to say that it is
alwa}^ good to see. a concept evolve into a creation, a vision come
to fimirion: Even though I was the lone voice in the wilderness
advocating for the development of this school and worked for a
year with our team to ^abhsh it, I give much of the credit to the
students.
Were it not for the students and their parents, who took the risk
of coming to a new school, accepting the challenges of and entrust
ing their children to a nascent institution, if it were not for their
sacrifices during their first couple years tiiere, if it were not for
their commitment and dedication to what we envisioned, there
would not have been a school and I would not have bad the plea
sure of being at that graduation. So, I say, “Thank you” to the stu
dents, parents, supporters, teachers, staff, and principal of our
Entrepreneurship High School. We did it!
The other pleasurable experience I want to share was at the
graduation ceremonies of the SBA Academy in Fort Wayne,
Indiana. Brother KwakuAkan and his staff and volunteers rolled
out the red carpet and invited me to participate in an event that
was moving, enlightening, and rewarding. I was the featured
speaker at their annual Malcolm X Birthday Celebration, on May
19 and the next day I addressed the graduates and the other stu
dents at the SBA Academy
If you ever have the occasion to visit Fort Wayne, you owe it your
self, and your children, to stop by the SB A Academy at the Weisser
Park Youth Center, to see what Brother Akan has dme with those
very special young people who attend the Saturday Afiican-
Centered School.
I was moved on an emotionalTevel by the maturity of the stu
dents, their knowledge of themselves and thedr ancestors, their
knowledge of history and what it means tobeAfiican descendants.
I got excited as I watched young children play ‘Tift Every Voice
and Sii^’ on steel drums. I was captivated by the red, black, and
green flags and tiie hallowed Bandera Square surrounded by
books by Amos W^son, Chancellor Willi ams, and many other great
Black authors. I was enthralled by the huge photos of our elders
lookir^ down fiom the wall of the aiiditorium. Harriet Tiibman,
Marcus Garvey Sojourner Truth, W.E.B. DuBois, Ida B. WeUs,
Malcolm X and so many more heroes and she-roes were tiiere to
remind the students, and anyone entering the room, of our great
ness and the shoulders upon which we stand.
The SBA Academy is a prime example of how we must take
thir^ into our own hands, as Martin Delany and Maria Stewart
told us, and use the resources we have to educate our children. We
must not solely rely on others to do that; it is our responsibility to
provide them with Afiican-centered information that builds Black
pride in them rather than black shame, such as what many of my
generation received. I stiU cannot believe that I would cheer for
Tarzan when he yelled, and all the natives would scatter at the
sound of his voice. How misguided was that?
You can be sure the youth who attend the Saturday School at
SBA Academy are not being misguided They are receivit^ infor
mation and inspiration that will support them as they grow .and
become exposed to a society that does not uplift and celebrate
Blackness except on a commercialized basis. They are bdng
tau^t to respect their elders in a society where that has become
pass6. They are developing relationships with one another that
wfll cause them to love and respect rather than hate and distrust.
FinaLly every student who graduates fiom the SBA Acad^y
receives a laptop computer; now that’s putting the icing on the
cake, isn’t it? Congratulations, SBA Academy Thank you'for a
wonderful visit; I do plan to return.
JAMES CLINGMAN, an adjunct professor at the University of Cincinnati's
African American Studies department, is former editor of the Cincinnati
Herald ne^vspaper and founder of the Greater Cincinnati African American
Chamber of Commerce.
n
D.G.
Marun
Habitat’s role after
founder’s tiring
What has happened to Habitat for Humanity since
the departure of its founder, Mfllard Fuller?
Since its founding by Puller in 1976, Habitat has
built more than 200,000 homes worldwide and
er^aged tiie efibrts of htmdreds of thousands of vol
unteers and new homeowners.
Puller’s charisma and vision were critical to
Habitat’s success. So when the Habitat governing
board dismissed him early last year, many wondered
about the organization’s future.
However, after a period of transition
al leadership under interim CEO
Paid Leonard, Puller’s permanent
replacement, Jonathan Reckford has
taken charge of an organization that
appears to be stable and focused on
tiie future.
Leonard’s new book, “Music of a
Thousand Hammers: Inside Habitat
for Humanity,” reviews recent devel
opments at the top level of Habitat’s
management, including Leonard’s
version of the tragic and disruptive fallout with
Fuller.
He also sets out a number of tough challenges
Habitat must meet, now that the crisis around
Puller’s departure has passed-such as finding afford
able land, adapting Habitat’s operations to the cul
tures of otiier countries, and managing the fund rais
ing competition among local Habitat organizations,
national groups, and the international organization.
Leonard’s concerns, however, come fiom someone
who is optimistic and enthusiastic about Habitat’s
future. In fact, his book is even more of an in.gidp look
at himself tiian at Habitat. It is really a love story, one
that tells how Paul Leonard and his wife Judy fell in
love with Habitat, its mission, and its work at the
local and international level.
But it was not love at first sight.
In 1986, when Leonard was president of the John
Crosland Company in Charlotte, he turned down an
invitation to volimteer with Habitat. “I was helpir^
to complete 300 to 400 units of affordable housing
each year,” he writes. His reaction to Habitat’s budd
ing of one house at a time with volunteer labor was,
“Maybe it wfll make you feel good. But you are kid
ding yourself if you think it wfll have any significant
impact.”
What changed Leonard fiom a skeptic into a
Habitat activist? It takes a book to explain why Paul
and Judy Leonard came to give almost every spare
minute to Habitat work in the Lake Norman area
and with Habitat groups and building projects across
our country and on almost every continent.
Leonard credits Mooresvflle businessman Bob
Wilson with persuading him in 1991 to open the door
for Habitat to contact Centex, the homebuflding com
pany that had acquired Crosland (and Leonard).
Centex’s CEO agreed to help and told Leonard to co
ordinate his company’s efforts-to sponsor 20 Habitat
homes.
What hooked Leonard, however, were the experi
ences of actually building the homes. He says that,
“more than any other person, Henry Eddy is respon
sible for cementing my relationship with Habitat.” A
retired plumber, Imown as the ‘Tather of Habitat in
Mooresvflle,” Eddy taught Leonard how to be a vol
unteer house leader.
Soon Leonard himself retired fiom Centex, and
Eddy persuaded him to serve on a local Habitat
board. At about the same time in 1995, because of his
experiaice in finance and homebuilding, Leonard
was elected to the international governing board of
Habitat.
He and Judy became world travelers to attend
board meetings and work on Habitat projects in other
countries as well. Almost immediately Leonard was
asked to serve as Treasurer. Eventually, he became
chair of the top governing board.
As chair, Leonard pushed for stronger management
controls and accountability, sometimes differing with
Millard Puller, whose magnificent inspired ideas
were not always groimded in business reality Not
long after Leonard completed his term as chair, the
differences between Puller and the board became
irreconcilable. Leonard agreed to serve first as ‘hian-
ager” and then as interim CEO. Those who love
Habitat and its mission of service will find “A
Thousand Hammers” to be an inspirational and
prophetic guide.
D.G. MARTIN is host of UNC-TV's "North Carolina
Bookwatch ” Sundays at 5 pm.
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