Page 6 - Florida Sentinel 10-2-15 Edition

Editorials/Columns
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City Council Chair Wants Input From Pastors
AMPA – I am writing
to you today about perhaps the most impor- tant issue that I will proba- bly face in my eight years on Tampa City Council, the for- mation of a Citizens Review Board (CRB). This issue is of utmost importance for me not because it has to do with any power struggle for me or the Council, or that it would benefit me person- ally in any capacity, but be- cause I view this as the first step towards bringing jus- tice to the community that I have been elected to repre- sent.
Many of you may have read about this in the press as a “power grab” by the City Council or a tussle be- tween the Mayor and I. It is neither. The issue is not about me, Council or the Mayor. It is about the com- munity that we serve.
After several days of heart-wrenching and emo- tional public testimony, the City Council heard from the various victims of police abuse predominantly from our community. For many this was news, but for you
and me, unfortunately, this is a reality that we live with on a daily basis. This, along with the systemic discrimi- nation faced by our commu- nity as highlighted by the bicycle investigation done by a local print media, makes it imperative that something must be done and done now.
It has been alleged by city officials that Tampa is not Ferguson, Missouri or Baltimore, Maryland and I agree. However, just be- cause there have not been any riots in this city, does not mean we should be sub- jected to injustice, inequal- ity and racial discrimination. I ask, you, is this the aspiration we want to set for our youth?
Some in the media and others have tried to portray me as trying to get more than my fair share of power or that I should stay within my limitations. This is not an issue of power for me; it is an issue of justice and fairness. I have written to the mayor and asked him to address the community and if they are satisfied with his
appointees to the CRB, I personally would not have any problem if he ap- pointed every single mem- ber to the CRB. I believe strongly that we as elected officials must advocate for the citizens who elected us to serve.
I am asking this commu- nity and in particular the ministers to take a position on this issue challenging our community. Your parishioners deserve to hear and read your input so this will not be a divided community or a division within the Black commu- nity. I need your input. This is a definitive moment for us, and I ask for your posi- tion. While I admit that a truly representative CRB will not be a panacea for all ills, I do believe it is the first step we can take to assert our rights to be given the same treatment under the law as everyone else.
The community and ministers have an opportu- nity to come together to make Tampa the city we all make as our home – a com- munity where citizens are respected regardless of their economic status or re- ligious belief. October 8, 2015 will be the date the Council will discuss this issue again. The time is now for your voice to be heard.
Sincerely, FRANK REDDICK Tampa City Council District 5
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Pope Francis Goes To Harlem
ho no doubt gave President Barack Obama the soul-
shake when the two met at Alexander Airport? Who stepped before the United States Congress and in painfully precise English made the Speaker of the House John Boehner first cry then quit? Who turned down a ritzy lunch with the Capitol Hill’s movers and shakers in order to eat fried chicken and potato chips with D.C.’s homeless?
And who not long ago, took a towel and washed the feet of poor people while he was dressed in ceremonial white? And is this also the same man who made a side-trip to Harlem? Surely, the world and history would call this man Pope Francis.
If he had arrived in Harlem on the A-Train with a Duke Ellington background, Pope Francis would not have been more celebrated by the people who swarmed him without harm. As such, he joined a list of Harlem visitors including Fidel Castro puffing his Cohiba and Moammar Gadhafi sporting amonstrous Afro and a stunning dashiki.
We would love to have been a fly on Pope Franccis’ collar as he hooted down the DEA, FBI, Secret Service, CIA, NYPD, and a bevy of other police agencies who no doubt begged him to come to his senses and change his mind. But he visited the place where Negritude was born and where Blackness first saw the white light of day.
And for his awareness, we and Black people around the world give Pope Francis the Power-Sign, and confer upon him what no other pope has ever publicly been given: The door is open. Sit down, Bro. Francis. Now it’s our turn to wash your feet.
They’re Leaving?
arlier this week an inter-
esting story made its way through the news cycle. Accord- ing to N.A.S.A., readings from a high powered telescope aimed at the planet Mars detected images that suggest the presence of flowing water underneath the planets arid surface.
I imagine that, to those heavy into space exploration, this revelation is a very big deal. Since water has always been considered the key building block of life, there's little doubt that this new information has sparked numerous possibilities in the minds of scientists, as- tronomers, businessmen and everyday thrill seekers. All of whom, probably, have some type of fantasy or interpretation of what the mysterious red rock in the sky has to offer.
If what is being reported is ac- curate I don't think it's a stretch to assume that it won't be long before companies, involved in the space tourism industry, try to expand their business models to include trips to this distant planetary object. And, with this new availability of water and the competition for what are known as "rare earth elements" heating up, there's no reason not to be- lieve that countries like the United States, China and Russia
are all licking their chops at the prospect of being able to become the first nations to send manned missions to the planet in an ef- fort to rape it of any "rarer" ele- ments it may contain.
You know all of this has to be coming down the pike right? They have been subliminally preparing us for these kinds of excursions to Mars since Arnold Schwarzenegger first made it look cool in the movie Total Re- call 30 years ago. But the thing I keep wondering is if this is something the rest of us should get hyped about?
Not to burst the bubble of the people who may be excited about the idea of human beings living as Martians (according to the Dogon tribe of northwest Africa this wouldn't be the first time) but, with our own planet in the midst of a global warning crisis, does it really make sense to potentially waste trillions of dollars exploring one that's al- legedly been dead for thousands of ages? To me that's equivalent to a person living in a home with a leaky roof who invests all of his money on restoring a roofless shack across town that's already been condemned.
This is a planet with no at- mosphere, extremely cold tem- peratures and an active volcano
10 times the size of Mount Ever- est. This is the place that they dream of colonizing?
I mean scientist can't even tell us what's beneath 85% of our oceans here on Earth. But for some reason they continually find it of the upmost importance to break down the geography of a celestial sphere over a million miles away. Either I'm missing something or there's a lot more to all of this focus on Mars than they're willing to share.
Maybe that's the point though. Maybe it isn't suppose to register to someone like my- self. I am quite sure that what- ever plans they have for a civilization away from Earth in the future, more than likely, doesn't involve the inclusion of too many Black faces.
Of course individuals like Be- yonce, Jay Z, Oprah and even Puffy may be invited to provide entertainment. But, as for the rest of us, when it's time for the great escape from whatever ca- tastrophe is predicted to come, the closest they want us to a spaceship will be front row seats to a Parliament/Funkadelic con- cert.
In the bible it says that the "Meek shall inherit the Earth." I just wish it would have men- tioned that this inheritance would only happen after it was used up and everyone else was ready to leave.
Reality On Ice is © by the Florida Sentinel Bulletin Publishing Company. Any- one wishing to contact Clarence Barr can email him at: realityonice@yahoo.com.
Healthcare Industry Jobs Can Close Wealth Gap
eople of color are projected to be the majority of Amer-
ica’s population by 2043. That means we have less than 28 years to get our economic act together. Part of that process demands that we strategically map out our personal education and training goals to ensure that Black people do not arrive at 2043 lacking the education, qualifications, skills, and training necessary to gain “living-wage” jobs. For, we can no longer continue to dominate the low and mini- mum wage workers population.
Listen: according to the National Association for the Ad- vancement of Colored People’s (NAACP) 2015 corporate re- port card on corporate diversity and inclusion for America’s healthcare systems, the healthcare industry is the fastest growing industry in the country. Indeed, over the next decade, the healthcare industry will add 5 million new jobs with living wages and generate wealth opportunities as ven- dors and contractors.
Therefore, Black Americans must begin now to explore and pursue training and business opportunities in the healthcare industry beginning with management and lead- ership positions. Other than doctors, nurses, and dentists we need to pursue jobs that pay in excess of $40,000 per year as dental hygienists, physical therapist, occupational therapists, sonographers, x-ray technicians, radiation ther- apists, surgical technicians, pharmacy technicians, home health aides, medical records technicians, EMT or para- medics and other high paying jobs.
Are you interested? Because 31 percent of all healthcare systems’ patients are minorities, there will be a growing need to ensure sensitive and customer friendly healthcare servants by making sure employees reflect the patient pop- ulation. What better way to do so than provide living wage jobs?
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