Page 5 - 6-12-15 Frisday's Edition

Editorials
Ghettos Don’t Have To Be Ghettos
Delano Stewart: A Very Good Year
T he year 1965 was anything, but docile. It was a year that witnessed a continuation of the Vietnam War, as well as an escalation of anti-war demonstrations here at home. It saw civil unrest billow in flames over the streets of Watts, Los Angeles, and witnessed the assassination of Malcolm X
in Harlem.
But 1965, was also the year the Voting Rights Act became
law. It was the year a young Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., led his celebrated march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, and it was also a year when a rambunctious young Black man by the name of Delano Stewart screwed up his courage, tried his hand at the Florida Bar examination, and passed it.
A legal legend was born, that year, which was 50 years ago. But just here, lately, at the Allen Temple A.M.E. Church, in recognition for his half century as the “people’s lawyer,” Delano Stewart, Esquire, took time out to do what he seldom has done: take a deep breath, pause, and look back.
And when Stewart looked back, he no doubt heard echoed a Morehouse motto that went, “The tragedy does not lie in not reaching a goal; the tragedy is having no goal to reach.” And he might remember the lady whose case he lost and who he paid out of his own pocket for her loss.
He may remember all of that and countless other things that have made his life a mountain taller than Everest, or a towering redwood tree. Then, contemplating retirement, Delano might also remember a song sung by the late Frank Sinatra who concluded, “I think of my life as vintage wine. . .It poured sweet and clear . . . It was a very good year . . .” except for one thing: 79 years young, Delano Stewart with a wink and a grin, would be the first to tell Sinatra, “Add ten more years, then come back and see me.”
“Something great is happening at Spoto Senior High School,” said the beaming grandmother of a Black male Spoto graduating senior. She was expressing her
pride in the fact that at least one third of Spoto’s honor grad- uates were Black. More so, she was ecstatic that many of the honor graduates were young Black men, something she had not observed at three graduations from other schools, the previous year.
Indeed, the grandmother’s enthusiasm reminded us to give a shout out to all the Black young men who recently graduated from Hillsborough County Schools because they represent what is right and good in the Black community.
Indeed, such young men have overcome many stumbling blocks on their way to establishing meaningful and produc- tive lives. And for those hundreds of young Black men like Abdul Azeez Al Shaa’ir (Hillsborough H. S.), Aivory Foster (Robinson H. S.), Nicholas Daniels (Blake H. S.), Jeruel John (Tampa Bay Tech), and Abdul Ahad Al Shaa’ir (Spoto H. S.) who finished high school with honors or B grades or better, we salute them, for they are our future leaders.
Their perseverance, determination, mature choices, and drive have helped them escape becoming a statistic and the subject of negative news coverage.
Yes, too often, the news dedicates prominent space to the pain and sorrow caused by the results of what is wrong with our children and our community.
However, today, we salute all of the Hillsborough County Black male high school graduates. Know in your hearts that we are exceedingly proud of you and that we love you for having done the right thing. The future is yours.
The ghetto is a suppressed, impoverished and neglected part of a city. Ghettos are usu- ally marked by a high crime rate, poor people and rundown conditions. Ghettos are also called slums and carry the same definition. Usually these areas are created by discrimination based upon race, religion or some other factor.
I don’t think I need to tell anybody that the ghetto- dwellers are Black folks. I have spent my entire life ghettos. My years of experiences qualify me to speak on this subject.
In the ghetto we have our own language, our own customs and our way of dispensing jus- tice.
Ghettos are composed of rundown houses, trash in the yards, the streets and every- where. Old broke down cars are everywhere. A bunch of broth- ers are sitting on a porch, in a yard throwing chicken bones all over the place. Collectively these are the things that make a ghetto.
As a columnist one of the things I try not to do is rehash the same topics. But, when it comes to cases of over aggres- sive policing against individuals of color, each occurrence tends to be so incredibly over-the-top that they’re almost impossible to ignore.
A prime example of this took place last weekend at a pool party in McKinney, Texas where police officers were called to the location in re- sponse to an alleged public dis- turbance. In one of the numerous videos taken of the event, attended by a mixed crowd of teenagers, it was the Black teens who appeared to be the recipients of the officers at- tention and scorn.
The most disturbing part of the video clip, which has been shown continuously all week, shows the lead officer on the scene snatching a bikini clad 15-year-old Black female to the ground, shoving her face into the dirt and then proceeding to pull his service weapon on two more teenage Black males who seemed to be coming to the girls defense.
Fortunately, this time around, no shots were fired and no innocent lives were lost. But
Ghettos are created by peo- ple. They are called ghetto- dwellers who can turn the wealthiest area in town into a slum in a short time. Since this is true, then I say that ghettos don’t have to be ghettos. You start unghettorising a ghetto by organizing a group of people who are ashamed of their com- munity and want to do some- thing about it.
Remember all it takes to get rid of your ghetto is to clean it up. I know that will not be an easy, but it is worth a try.
Your group should go through the neighborhood ex- plaining what you are trying to do, why, and the advantage of doing so.
You will have those who don’t want to get involved, but that is okay. Take those who are interested and get about the business of cleaning up the ghetto. Remove the loose garbage, trash, broken up furni- ture, broken down cars and any junk that adds to the clutter of the area.
the image of a police officer using brutal force on an un- armed and unthreatening Black youth, once again, highlights the issue of how frequently cops find it necessary to violate the civil rights of Blacks in this country.
The thing that continues to frustrate me about the incident is that, no matter how times I watch the video, I still can’t fig- ure out what the young girl did to warrant such treatment? And the fact that she wasn’t ar- rested for any wrong doing makes the cops brutish behav- ior even more suspicious.
The most telling aspect of the event is that the white teenager responsible for filming much of the now infamous footage stated in an interview that, during all of the chaos, he felt “invisible” to the police of- ficers. According to him, the cops ran around him and only went after the “African-Ameri- can kids.”
His statement was a pro- found eyewitness account that refutes the claims made by other white adult residents of the neighborhood who believed that the incident wasn’t racially motivated and who even went as far as to call the officers ac-
The shame of all of this is the group will have to clean up the junk of those who refuse to help.
Ghettos don’t have to be ghettos. There are a number of ways to transform a slum. The city’s Sanitation Department will be a big help in this trans- formation project. The depart- ment will pick up and haul trash and garbage.
You should meet with the department and tell them what you need and find out all the help they will give. They should involve Code Enforcement and let them know what the group is trying to do and that the group expects quick action.
The group should not hesi- tate to call Code Enforcement when they see acts that go against their “Get Rid Of A Ghetto Project.”
The Police Department should be made aware of the project and ask to keep an eye on the project. If you find out there is anyone else who can be of any help then seek their help.
Once the project is started, then you can recruit organiza- tions like Habitat to come in and rehab houses. Out of the group, form a group who can paint and rehab houses. Then finally re- cruit landlords and property owners to maintain any and all of their properties. All efforts should be made to evict those ghetto mongers and to prevent others from moving in.
You say this is impossible, I used to hear that about going to the moon.
tions “heroic.”
Maybe I’m missing some-
thing here. But I need help un- derstanding what exactly is “heroic” or valiant about a 190- lb man pummeling a 115-lb fe- male child?
He didn’t save anyone from a fire. He didn’t stop anyone from being beaten to death. I mean he didn’t even rescue a cat from a tree.
He grabbed the smallest per- son he could find and tossed her like a rag doll for no dis- cernible good reason. For this he deserves a medal?
I can’t help but wonder what these same individuals would have felt if the situation in- volved a Black cop treating a blonde haired, blue-eyed 15- year-old girl in the same fash- ion? Would his actions be viewed in the same positive light?
And I won’t insult anyone’s intelligence by asking what they thought would have occurred if all parties involved were white. I think it’s safe to assume that, if that were the case, there wouldn’t have been an issue to discuss.
In the end, this latest blue on Black controversy is just more of the same thing that Black people have been experiencing for years. The only difference being that, with the advent of camera phones, a clearer pic- ture accompanies the story.
Reality On Ice is © by the Florida Sentinel Bulletin Pub- lishing Company. Anyone wish- ing to contact Clarence Barr can email him at: realityonice@yahoo.com.
Same Old Story
Words Of Praise For Young Black Men
FRIDAY, JUNE 12, 2015 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 5-A