Solidarity Will Transform the World

Solidarity Will Transform the World

By Jeffery Odel Korgen

I read this book as part of a curriculum of ‘JustFath,’ a program intended to help one raise themselves to a compassionate awareness for those whose lives are played out on the fringes of society.  With this awareness one may be moved to action.  After reading a couple of preceding ‘Just Faith’ books on the subject a reader would be hungry to appreciate where this action would come from and to learn how it manifests itself into success stories.  In the end the ultimate goal in the stories of this book finds a common thread; the aim of that action.  That aim is directly set towards bringing dignity and social justice to all those in the fringe of society.  

This dignity is not brought out through government sponsored entitlement programs.  In fact these programs don’t even take place in America, though there are indeed American versions.   These stories take place on a world stage, India, Rwanda, Nicaragua, Zambia, Mexico; holding a broader view, beyond American life.  Yet the solutions are brought in part by Americans through the programs of Catholic Relief Services.  While the CRS is funded by the Catholic Church, the actors are not necessarily all Catholic.  They don’t have to be this book is higher than Catholicism, it is about the restoration of the “Oneness” of mankind; story by story.

The stories told don’t  fit the paradigm of the average American that has been programmed by public education and steeped in American television ‘sit-com’ that portray the ‘American Family’ in the American situation that is white washed of  human suffering.  After all who wants to be entertained by episodes of suffering?  Is that even possible? The suffering is not what one sees on those commercials of flies on the swollen bellies of starving children in commercials during those ‘sit-coms’.  They are stories first about people trying to carve out a living amidst challenges of a society looking to systematically oppress and abscond their own selfish riches off the backs of another man. Second and here’s the lesson learned; where people join hands and inch by inch, dollar by dollar, cup of coffee by cup of coffee climb out of a life of social injustice to a life full of dignity and peace.

Below are excerpts.  If you don’t read the book read the following Ten whole pages.

1.       In his encyclical “On Social Concern (Sollicitudo Rei Socials) in 1987 . John Paul II defined the content of solidarity as “a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good; that is to say to the good of all and of each individual, because we are all really responsible for all.”  The pope was convinced that this principle of moral responsibility should be con used within societies and across societies and cultures in international relations.

2.   Page 4:  Even the poorest people have something to offer, and with  Catholic Relief Service (CRS) programs, solutions to global poverty emerge in partnership with low-income beneficeries.  This approach respects the dignity of the poor people and foster creative responses to overcoming poverty. 

How we work with people living in poverty also reflects our belief in human dignity.  If we truly believe in the sacredness of human life and the dignity of the human person, we must continually ask if we foster development or dependency through our ministries.  Do we act with the understanding that people living in poverty have resources, or do we view them like a child in the public service announcement, who could not even stand without spoon feeding milk to his mouth?

3.   Page 5: Paul stated that defeating poverty and growing in knowledge were the first steps of human development, but also held out expression of culture, …a growing awareness of other people’s dignity, a taste for the spirit of poverty, an active interest in the common good, and desire for peace as an ends for which we should strive.

4.   Page 7:  We cannot realize our full potential or appreciate our full meaning of our dignity unless we share our lives with others and cooperate on projects that hold the promise of mutual benefit.

5.   Page 8:  These stories of hope and human development projects they represent defy crass political categorizations as “liberal” or “conservative.”  Insisting that the pooest women in India grow savings accounts before receiving a single rypee of microfinance loans is not a conservative ideological tenant; it is simply the most effective method to help these women become self-sufficient.  Calling on the U.S. government to fund anti-retroviral for the poor of Zambia who suffer from HIV/AIDS is nor part of a liberal political program, it is a principal source of healing “Lazarus Effect” that CRS fosters in sub Saharan Africa.  For me, this was one of the great lessons of this year-long immersion in global poverty; CRS’s stories of hope reveal that both liberals and conservatives have something to contribute to human development, and the end product transcends ideology.

6.   Page 12:  CRS-Mexico manager Erica Dahl Bredine has characterized the migration relationship between the U.S. and Mexico as “one that forces people to run through a human obstacle course to get here, and if they make it through alive, CRS Mexico build hope to developing the human and financial resources of Mexicans, creating alternatives within Mexico that give them the option to stay in their country.

7.   Page 13:   Engracia is a seamstress, ad also the president of one of the first micro finance groups formed in Nogales, the Bank of the United.  “Microfinance” refers to small-scale savings and loan products that provide an alternative to the loan sharks and coyotes  that prevail in Mexico.

8.   Page 15:  There she might employ another seamstress or two, multiplying the hopw that the Bank of the United has given her by providing living wage jobs for others.

9.   Page 16:  Norma views the banks as an important tool for the empowerment of women.

1    Page 17:  They also assess what size loans clients may borrow and repay based on their current business activity and their capacity to expand.  Current or previous experience running a business – even selling eggs out of a basket – is vital.  The animators obtain references from neighbors and factor in variables like how long potential clients have lived in Nogales.

11.  Page 17:  The first loans are funded by Bancomun.  Each member of the bank guarantees the repayment of the other members’ loans which average $200 to $300, repaid over a four month period.  If someone misses payment, all are responsible for making up the difference.  At the end of the cycle, everyone gets new loans, but only if all of the previous cycles’s loans have been paid.  A combination of positive peer pressure and careful selection of bank members has resulted in a repayment rate of 95 percent

1   Page 17:  CRS intends to introduce “solidarity groups” of five to seven women with established businesses who would graduate to larger loans.  The bank animators have learned that as the original businesses funded by banks grow, they require larger loans to sustain development.

1   Page 18:  Biweekly bank meetings provide opportunities to collect loan payments and savings deposits.  They also include time for group building exercises and discussions about community issues, over coffee and cookies.  Through this process, the material and human resources of these women grow, but peace rebuilding has also figured into the experience.

1   Page 20:  Molina’s story widens the scope of human development: her financial resources have grown; her business skills have expanded; and new her mental health has improved – dramatically.

1   Page 20:  But the result of this project indicate that many Mexicans at the border are looking for reasons to stay.  If they can live in what they consider to be acceptable living conditions wit family and friends, the push and pull factors (of illegal immigration) lose some of their power.

1   Page 23:  The adult children have built a life together in Wyoming and send a total of $500 a month to help support the family in Mexico, Remittances like these are the number two source of cash in the Mexican economy, after the sale of oil.

1   Page 26:  Immigration is a phenomenon that obeys economic laws.  Migration will be the fate of the Molinars and other family farmers if viable alternatives are not sustained in Mexico, CRS cannot change economic laws, but it can help small family farmers, like the Molinars develop the agricultural  skill, market penetration, and access to credit they need to compete in the global marketplace.

1   Page 34:  The Line in the Sand and the other three CRS-Mexico border programs stand together as a peace building effort as much as an  integral human development project.  The banks and the FDC development material assets, business acumen, and agricultural skills, addressing head-on the desperate forces driving migration into the Unites States.

The Lazarus Effect

1   When Zambia achieved independence from Rhodesia in 1964, it was middle –income country.  Devastated by droughts and natural disaster, fluctuating copper prices, and a disastrous experience with socialism, Zambia descended into poverty in the 1970.ffect therefore springs from the intersection of the medical and financial resources of the U.S. Catholic Church and the American people (via the PEPFAR initiative) and the human resources of the people of Zambia, though institutional partnerships and relationships with the individual Zambians who volunteer.

2    In general, the volunteers in the various CRS-supported programs are just as poor as the clients, which help to build trust, minimizing the cultural learning curve for volunteers.

21 CRS has responded to food insecurity by promoting the cultivation of drought-resistant crops and hosting “seed fairs” throughout Zambia.  In a community seed fair, participants receive vouchers for seeds they need.

2   Page 46:  She believes that her call is not only to treat the sick, but also to challenge cultural  norms that allow men to have two or three sexual partners outside marriage.  “As women, we accept this.”  She said “my own husband got AIDS and gave it to me.  He was in denial until he died.”

2   Page 48:  Esther’s question brought me back to the Lazarus Effect.  Why did Christ bring Lazarus out of the tomb?  To die of malnutrition?  Malaria?  To live in a society with 87 percent unemployment?  Even CRS works to save lives, one question pushes all others out of the way:  what kind of life awaits a modern Lazarus?

A New Awakening

2   Page 58:  Self-help groups build both financial and human assets, employing principles of microfinance (see chapter1) to demonstrate the even the poorest people can save money, repay small loans, and develop their own businesses.

25.  Page 61:  When you live Hihiri Pipiri, your ancestors will come alive in your own village.  So you won’t go looking for that particular village; it will be here and now.”

Fr. Christu’s words reminded me that when I asked Sharmila what she was most proud of, she answered:

Earlier, if there was a problem, we ran to someone with an open hand, asking for help.  Today, we do not do that.  We go directly to our group full of confidence that we’ll get help.  Secondly, when we have a problem, we get more than material help; we get human resources.  This is what I am most proud of Hihiri Pipiri, indeed.

2    Page 63:  Freedom members are most proud of the group’s name.  Chabbi offered this explanation, “  The group has taught us to experience freedom:  freedom from superstition and ignorance, economic freedom, physical freedom, and mental freedom.”  Those freedoms have been earned through the tight discipline of weekly savings and loan payments and the growing social bonds within the group.

     Page 64: Fr. Christu Das, director of the Social Development Center of the Diocese of Dumka, too time to explain the key dynamics of self help groups.  His passion for human development and love of the Santal people were on vivid display as he talked about the balance between encouragement and challenge that he and his staff must provide.

We want to create a way for people to take their own life into their hands, a way for people to get their God-given dignity back.

2    Page 70: “ We experienced three kinds of results: saving time, increasing productivity, and making our relationships stronger.  Through these activities, we escaped the trap of money lenders.”

2   Page 71:  By the time we completed our tour, my questions about gender relations had become almost ritualistic.  In every village I asks “How did your husbands react to your participation in the group?”  The response in each group was the same: giggles.

And why not?  Social change is not easy.  Women like Sharmila, Chabbi, and Sushila, found that they were capable of so much more than they ever imagined.  They discerned “Hidden Skills.”  They determined that they could raise their families out of dollar-a-day poverty and discover a whole new set of life’s possibilities.   

3   Page 76:  Most self-help group candidates who run for office vie for a seat on the Panchayat Raj Institution (PRI).  The PRI is a local governmental structure, founded by Mahatma Gandhi, based on a Catholic social teaching concept called subsidiarity: the principle that the smallest possible social unit should take responsibility for social life.  The PRI ensures a local voice in determining where roads, bridges, wells, schools, and health centers will be built.  U.S. readers might understand the PRI as analogous to a U.S. city council, which determines how federal block grants are spent.

31  Page 81:  For Reflection:  The development we speak of here cannot be restricted to economic growth alone.  To be authentic, it must be well rounded;  it must foster the development of each person and the whole person.

Forgiving the Unforgivable

3   Page 97:  Hutu and Tutsi; There is one difference among the three that meant little in this part of Africa for centuries but became a defining characteristic under Belgian colonizers:: ethnicity.

My comment:  This draws out two questions:   Is our Western Civilization philosophy that took on an Enlightenment twist, the only way?  A way that through classification and division that was previously not required, or was it? 

3    Page 104:  What makes forgiveness difficult, she explained is when part or all the truth is withheld.  She, like many Rwandans, is still waiting for her neighbors to volunteer the truth.

3   Page 117:  Drocella forgave Philippe and invited his wife over for a long conversation.  Afterward, she returned two water jugs she had taken from their house while they were in exile.  The two families shared their story of reconciliation at church, to inspire others to tell the truth and forgive.  Philippe helped with occasional handyman work around her house for a while

But when the Gacaca courts began operation in 2004, a change came over Philippe.  He ‘got tired’ and no longer came over to work on the house.  He told his official confession, but omitted the names of his accomplices.  He even said in court, “You say you forgave me.  Forgiveness is not from you; it is from God and from [President] Kagame.’

Dorcella was crushed.  She thought, “I forgave, but I am still alone.  I will shudder all my life because I lose my children.  What’s going to happen to me?”  He roof leaked, and with every drip of water reinforced her sense of isolation

One of the parish justice and peace commissioners saw the condition of Dorcella’s home and offered help.  Commission members reconstructed her house, and the archdiocese contributed toe cost of the roof.  This response surpassed all of Drocella’s expectations and shored up her own healing.   Life after genocide remains a challenge for her, but she is not facing it alone.

My comment:  Forgiveness was under way until the Rwandan courts stepped in, under the eye of western civilization, to prosecute.  This broke down the cycle of forgiveness-redemption and brought these people back to a material world.  The Catholic Church eased the tension with material relief; but where the atrocity of genocide was on the forgiveness path it was derailed, by a ‘well intended’ government institution.

The Solidarity Economy

3   Page 132:  Since 2003, Catholic Relief Service [CRS] has supported CEOCAFAN with low-interesyt harvest loans and coffee purchases for the initial shipments of CRS-brand Fair Trade Coffee, while (CEOCOSMEAC awaited certification).  In turn CEOCAFAN has helped CEOCOSMEAC farmers with technical assistance as well as dry-milling services.  CEOCAFAN farmers in the village of Los Pinos showed our group what the future of the  solidarity economy might hold for CEOCOSMEAC farmers

3   Page 132: Alfredo Rayo and Maria Elsa Granados live in a spall concrete home like Jose’s in the town of Los Pinos.  Alfredo and Maria have lived in two-dollar-a-day poverty for most of their lives, but solidarity economy has begun to change that.  They still live simply, but now with more dignity.  They never go hungry.  The have divided their two-room house into four rooms. Each of their four children has a university education; two of their daughters hold degrees in computer engineering.  Their youngest son now attends college on a CEOCAFAN scholarship working as a tour guide in his spare time.

3   Page 134:  Every cup has a story;  this cup contain a village’s dream of decent health care for all of its residents.

3   Page 137:  CRS promotes the quality control efforts of Nicaraguans like Raul but also brings in the resources of other U.S. Catholic organizations, Professor Sue Jackels of Seattle University, a Jesuit institution, is a chemist who answered a specific call to solidarity.  Sue had attended meetings of a worldwide association of chemists from Jesuit universities (ISJACHEM) for several years.  In 2001, a college from the University of Central America (UCA)-Nicaragua stood up in a plenary session and encourages members of the organization to help lead a response to the coffee crisis:

He said, “as chemists, there is something we can do about it’”  I heard that and I thought, “Idon’t know what it is that I can do.  I just cant wrap my brain around the idea.”  But I started reading.  So the next year he got up and said that nobody had responded.   He said, “if we don’t  do something about this, I am going to stop coming to these meeting.”  Si I got up and said, “Okay, I am going to figure out something to do.  I’m going to consider something, some way to get involved.”  So I started reading more and talking to people on campus.

3    Page 138:  "CRS staff reported fears that the fermentation process was going awry for a significant number of CECOSEMAC farmers. “The concern was that the farmers were just letting the fruit mucilage ferment too long, and this was degrading the coffee quality, ”she explained. After studying the problem, Sue came to believe that an experiment measuring the changing acidity of the mucilage might help the farmers understand what was going wrong.

She and her husband, Charles, a chemist at the University of Washington-Bothell, applied for research sabbaticals to study the fermentation process in CECOSEMAC farms. In 2004, they traveled to Nicaragua with two of Sue's students, joining up with a University of Central America (UCA)-Nicaragua student to form a research team. They devised and carried out an experiment in response to the farmers' research questions, a scientific application of the preferential option for the poor. The small coffee plots became the Jackels' laboratory; the farmers became amateur chemists.

Sue and her team distributed pH strips to participating farmers, who measured the pH of three coffee samples at regular intervals during fermentation. They halted the process by washing the beans when the pH decreased to 4.6, 4.3, and 3.9 for the three samples. Lower pH indicated higher acidity.

Anyone who has baked a cake “until a toothpick comes out clean”will understand the late stages of coffee fermentation. If a farmer pokes the fermenting mucilage with a stick early in the process, the hole made by the stick fills in quickly. If she does so when the process is completed, the hole persists, and the beans rub against each other with more friction. If the farmer does not wash the beans soon enough, the fermentation continues, the coffee becomes too acidic, and taste quality is compromised (recall Raúl's acidity scale).

The research team gathered the coffee samples and then dried and roasted the beans. Raúl's CECOSEMAC laboratory and CECOCAFEN's quality control department then evaluated the various samples through a formal cupping process. The results indicated a correlation between the pH of the coffee at washing and the quality of the roasted coffee—the longer the fermentation, the more acidic the coffee, with an accompanying decline in taste quality. 6 Farmers then refined their practice of the traditional fermentation process based on the results. Their test for “doneness” remained the same—when a hole made by a stick persisted—but they gained valuable quantitative data that encouraged them to more carefully monitor the process and accurately" gauge its completion.

4   Page 141:  The  farmers are keenly aware of the role of technology and education in being keys to improving their process. They also have a very long-term view, which interested me.  I din’t  expect this.  When you talk to them about coffee, they’re not simply asking, “How will this help me next year?”  They are asking, “Will this help me develop a method of farming and an approach that will have sustainability over the long run?”

… without elements of the solidarity economy such as cooperative membership, Fair Trade-certification, the technical assistance provided through CRS and scientists like Sue and Charles.

41  Page 142:  low-income farmers produce a “cup of excellence.”  CRS has helped to usher in this new era of service-learning by respecting both the skills of low-income coffee farmers and the resources university and their professors have to offer.

4   Page 146:  Our bishop recognized that we live-even in our basic rural diocese here - in something of an American cocoon.  We’re not always aware of realities in other parts of the world, especially with regard to social justice.  Going into a relationship with people in another part of the world through our faith connection, that is really transformative.

4   Page 146:  Solidarity happens when you get to know each other, and you begin to share your faith and your relationship with each other

With all good intension, we still had this perception that we were going to visit poor people.  But I quickly found out that they’re just people.  They were intelligent, capable and very knowledgeable about the world.  The first thing you notice about them is that they are so full of joy.

4   Page 150:  Every perspective on economic life that is human, moral, and Christian must be shaped by three questions:   What does the economy do for people?  What does it do to people?  And how do people participate in it?

Afterword

4   Jesus tells us by word and example that true Christian living requires dialogue and engagement with the culture in which we live.  Commitment to peace and social justice, exercising a preferential option for the world’s poor, respecting the life and dignity or every human person across the full spectrum of life, are the litmus tests of our lives as Jesus’ disciples.  It is how we will be judged on the last day.  Shouldn’t we begin now to think, speak, and act differently?

Catholic Relief Services believes that Solidarity will transform not only the lives of poor people overseas, but our own lives as well, we are convinced.  A firm commitment to respect the sacredness and dignity of every human being, to share the goods of the earth equitably, to practice peace, justice, and reconciliation, and too cherish and protect the integrity of all creation will fundamentally change the lives of everyone on earth.  God has given the human race the ability to achieve such change.  Indeed, we are all called to be agents of that transformation, to be co –creators of the reign of God on earth.

The collective consciences must be raised.  Our awareness of global issues must be increased.  We cannot act if we do not know what to do.  We must educate ourselves, pass on our knowledge, and get involved.

The Covenant

The Covenant
Introduction by Travis Smiely

In summary, to characterize this book, the reader will find a collection of essays by various authors. Hence the title Covenant. The narrative of each essay carries a noticeable collection of data points that are on many occasions not wholly relevant to the theme or case being made. In many cases the facts are not related to each other. And often times the statistical argument finds narrow groups of data conveniently merged with wider groups of data that is marginally related, only to exacerbate or distort the case being made. The second trait found in the book is that while almost every essay finds a solution in the NPO sector, the essay’s author leans hard into and demands for government action. And finally hiding behind these two flaws is too often the truth. That truth beholds the differences and the disparity across color in our society and most importantly the sameness. Unfortunately that truth does not come out in this book. When a Covenant is made with we the people, regardless of race, the solution will not have to be solved. We will awaken to it.

The structure of each essay is the same. Each chapter begins with an introduction on the theme, from urban renewal to rural roots and all points in between. Each essay then follows with a fact check and a section on what works. In every chapter Non Profit Organizations are at the center of what works. Unfortunately this section is always the thinnest section with the smallest voice. There are many examples of cooperatives and institutions dedicated to the improvement of Black America. When I got to the Rural Root section what was described was a fate that crossed the color barrier. Yet the organizations were for African Americans. I asked myself if a white person could and seek the benefit of the institution. Or would there exist an institutional barrier of discrimination within that organization? And would there be a loud cry in lame stream media and white pundits playing a race card.?

While many of the essays, have an overtone of militant demands to fix a society that has wronged them, the most militant chapter in the book is accessing Good Jobs, Wealth, and Economic Prosperity. It is all about entitlements and speaks directly to the Democrat Party platforms which happen to be at the root of our economic collapse; Bill Clinton’s Affordable Housing Act. We are not a country of a government brought here to serve the people. We are a government of the people and by the people. Alexander de Tocqueville, French political thinker of the the mid 19th century, said it best about America’s values. We are a people of great society, in the vision of our Founding Fathers. Not the vision of Lyndon B. Johnson. It is through the philanthropy of the American people that makes this country great. I do not mean the philanthropy characterized in the movie The Help. In doing extensive work with the American Red Cross, I know first hand about philanthropy. I know the feeling you get when you make eye contact with the person you are giving to. I also appreciate that on average seventy-five to ninety-two percent of the dollars donated to NPO’s go towards the cause, as opposed to the seven to twenty percent performance found in our government. Philanthropy is the number two industry in America. Few people know this. The Catholic Church is the number two non-profit in the United States. Fewer people know this. Bill Clinton is very involved in non-profit work and has done infinitely more for man-kind since he left the office of President of the United States than all of his public offices put together. Read his book Giving. And then think this Covenant thing through again.

This book has it wrong. The essay themes are worth a real good look. While I struggled with almost every statistical argument, the theme was worth a look. And I am sure where there is smoke there is fire. But when the solution is laced with a black-v-white narrative, there can be no solution. I draw from the movie V for Vendetta for a closing analogy. I propose that ‘We’ remove the vendetta. Round out the sharp corner at the bottom of the V. Render that ‘V’ a ‘U’ for Unity. I propose these authors make that paradigm shift and re-write this book.

Below is my interactive dialogue with the authors of each essay.

Securing the Right to Healthcare (Clearly the Obamacare agenda)

Page 12: The author advocates a check list of things the individual can do to live a healthy life. Most of all "hold all leaders and officials responsible and demand that they change current policy.

My comment: First the last item is incoherent and inconsistent with the rest of the list. It is a militant demand on those not responsible for healthy living habits.

Page 13: Myser Keels, a leader of and spokesperson for The Affordable Housing Coalition, which includes churches and community groups, said,”We've been waiting too long to get the city to bring in a big store, ... The coalition ... Demanded that the Fresno City council set aside money for it's $11 million Community Development Block Grant to build a shopping center in their community,"

My comment: Couldn't a business case with Kroger have been a more streamline approach? The author does not explore this possibility.

Page 14: Over 50% of the children [in Fayette County Public Schools are on free or reduced plan at 21 of the districts schools.

My comment: While I marvel at the staggering number on the dole, I also look at yet another misuse of statistical picture painting. An early trend set in this book. They start with black and then say persons of color which would then include Latinos and Asians. To further impede my acquiescence to the case made in this essay, I hold out the Travon Martain case, where the media and Black Figureheads (Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton) actually call the shooter a “white Latino.” A person loses his sense of empathy when there is a strong tendency to skew the facts.

Page 15: The Bucket Brigade story that tells of a community banning together with the assistance of a NPO to prove the local manufacturers polluted their air. It resulted in government action against polluters in industry. This is clearly a case where the Black Community where clearly victims.

My comment: I feel for their suffering and stand behind the call for corrective action. However there is one thing I find in corporate America and that is they are not colored blind. They do not prejudice against blacks, or anyone else. They only prejudice for green…money.

Page 18: To aid in preventing these diseases, city planners must improve the design and construction standards in new public and state-assisted housing to improve ventilation and reduce the likelihood of mold problems.

My comment: I agree, but do not see it as solely a black problem.

Page 19: [the medical field] broader train healthcare professionals to treat patients from different backgrounds.

My comment: I am white my doctor is Indian, and I prefer Indian doctors. They have no issues in communication with me. Oddly enough Indians, do not have white skin. Why would there be an issue with black Americans and white doctors ... Or Indian doctors? If this unsubstantiated rationale prevailed, then it would be a building block for the next argument to make special provisions for more black doctors.

Establishing a System of Public Education

Page 30: A national effort at affirmative development to complement continuing efforts at affirmative action should be much broader than the initiatives directed at improving the effectiveness of education....We propose to embark upon a deliberate effort to develop academic abilities in a broad range of students who have a history of being resourced deprived and who as a consequence are under represented in the pool of academically high achieving students.

My comment: The prelude to this paragraph presents a hodge-podge of inconsistent stats. It starts with stats on blacks and adds them to people of color to exaggerate the problem statement as it the presents nothing more than broader and deeper affirmative action. I feel there may be validity in the problem statement, but the prelude diminishes the credibility. Following the actions taken by Condoleezza Rice as Provost of Stanford I therefore would have hoped for a solution that was more organically borne from within the black community.


Page 35: The Harlem Children’s Zone is one of the largest community based programs devoted to learning in and out of school.

My comment: This is a NPO program that serves 70,000 kinds I. Harlem. It comes under the section titled what is working. Yet the author on page 39 reverts back to advocating federal government spending and provisioning of early childhood schools.

Page 39: In order to level the playing field from day one, early childhood development must be a basic right of all children, just as elementary, junior, and high schools are.

My comment: First, it is not a basic right fir anyone to get an education. There is a mandate to be educated. Second, the States educate their children, not the Federal Government.

Page 40: It is unacceptable for children to be left behind academically; we must find and offer whatever resources are needed to help them learn and progress on par with children their age

My comment: Much is said by our educators about GW Bush's No Child Left Behind Act. What the schools did to the children is teach to a standard. That simple standard is "par". Bush left it to the schools to "find whatever resources.” To meet that goal. Unfortunately I feel the administrations forced a focus on the testing and lost site of the teaching. Apparently unless mandated the education administrators cannot chart their own course to other resources. I don’t fault the teachers…I take direct aim on the administrators.

Correcting the System of Unequal Justice

Page 62: Laws such as "Three Strikes" lead to individuals serving a life sentence if convicted of theft for sterling a slice of pizza. ... If a criminal law is to be effective, the punishment must fit the crime

My comment: I'll be sure to recheck where that is included in our Bill of Rights.

Page 64: it is equally important for the government to fund projects that reach put to youth before they are incarcerated including after school programs, organized mentoring opportunities, and initiatives that provide juveniles in inner cities a with esteem building skills and alternatives to criminal activity.

My comment: If the Harlem Project previously mentioned is so successful shouldn't we model after that before we seek government funding? While I agree, that inner city people need help, why when NPO’s are much more efficient would te author of this essay not reach in that direction instead? What can be done to turn up the volume on NPO engagement?

Page 66: If we encourage and help children in our families and neighborhoods to do well in school, participate in safe engage able activities, and if we hold our elected officials responsible for the rehabilitation and successful re-entry of all ex felons back into our
communities, then we can start to correct the system of unequal justice.

My comment: While generally agreeing with the goals, I find on many levels contradiction in the definition of the problem, specifically as it proposed the solution. It seems that counting on community NPO's for prevention and then falling back on the government for re-entry as a spending that policy that not only is a day late and a dollar short, but in practice in order to get government help, you must first commit a crime of which therefore Entitles you to government funds.

Ensuring Broad Access to Affordable Neighborhoods

Page 101: in the United States, where you live literally determines access to opportunity. Your address dictates whether you will have access to good schools and jobs, grocery stores, parks and other neighborhood communities. The availability of affordable housing in neighborhoods of rich opportunity, therefore, has become the next
battle ground in the fight for black people to fully participate and thrive.

My comment: Where was the battle cry for the white folks living in rural back waters fro the beginning of out nation and thru to today? I have to throw that up for question against the canvas for which the comment was made. That canvass painted the picture of the vacuum left behind by urban sprawl and cities in decline. While I appreciate the problem, this is not a 'black' issue alone. This is a problem equally contributed to by all people and until words like battleground are removed from the dialogue, no solution is at hand. These contributing essay authors draw too close a parallel line to the Israeli-
Palestinian divide.

Page 101: Equally important is access to public transit. Proportionately black people are less likely to own cars and much more dependent on public transit than whites. Plus because so many new jobs are on suburban communities, black people must rely on public transit to get to these jobs. Fair and equitable transportation strategies could effectively link African Americans to opportunity throughout the region. But most transpiration spending goes to support continued sprawl by building more and more highways, not increasing public transit such bas buses, light rail, and subways.

My comment: While I agree in principle this is not a black-white issue and the solution is two fold. First is make the city core vibrant again Mike Illich in Detroit is doing a lot in that effort. Second public transportation would reduce America's dependency on foreign oil. Urban renewal would change the strategy for a public transit system and the Illich strategy should be expanded upon by more enterprising people. What stops them? Here is a clue: I was at an inner city street fair in Cincinnati. It was in a black district
called Over the Rhine. I said to one of the venders “this goes a long way towards urban renewal.". He said “I have been coming here for the last ten years and it's a losing proposition every year". He went on to say of his merchandise, all my profit is stolen right under his nose." Until blacks address the "white flight" syndrome, there is no policy change that will turn the quality of life for blacks around.

Page 108: Public transit is often an under utilized asset in African American communities and low-income communities. By tying housing and other community services, it can link up opportunity and increase mobility.

My comment: This contradicts every thing else written in this book on public transportation. Everywhere else it is written that we need to invest in to public transport because the black community is so far under served. Now here the slippery slope begins in a dialogue on linking the train station to other community services. Regardless of the contradiction the slippery slope is not stepped upon because the whole project Bethel New Life is a private faith based organization.

Page 112: land use laws that require large lot sizes, or large square foot single-family houses drive up the cost, raising the bar too high for low-cost multi family developments.

States can enact fare-share housing policies that require every jurisdiction to plan for and build a portion of their housing to serve low- and modest income families.

My comment: I think it is appropriate for every jurisdiction to zone for housing of a blended variety. A blended community makes for a strong community. However, we need to leave it to private industry and non-profit works to build the housing. The State usually does a poor job at this and the result is an entitled neighborhood prone for crime. Entitled people don't seek work. Idle time is the devils work shop.


Page 114: Owning homes is how most Americans build wealth... Local, state, and federal leaders can systematically increase ownership for African Americans by creating housing capital pools that affirmatively market to underrepresented communities that offer mortgage subsidy, down payment assistance and credit counseling.

My comment: This comes under the heading called Affordable Housing Act. The most destructive act Bill Clinton passed. While well intended, like Bush's No Child Left Behind, the AHA is the card that caused the collapse of cards in 2008. Freddie, Fannie, and Barney forced high risk balloon loans. This hyped the real estate markets. At the time as a Series 6 & 7 Financial Adviser I was doing what was essentially pro-Bono work for financially stressed low income families. Here is what I dealt with. The pitch by realtors was “don't worry about the balloon, the prices are going up so fast, you'll be flipping this house for a larger one before it comes due. You can use the profit on the next one to purchase a conventional mortgage.” And the banks were all too ready to lend the savings for a short term reduced mortgage payment rate to lend them money to buy a new boat at higher interest rates. Based on that ‘card’, Wall Street turned a blind eye to the people's business acumen to execute on that plan. Then this group of entire people, unqualified under previous standards, went out and bought new cars and boats and they ran up credit cards. Then they defaulted leaving the leveraged paper on Wall Street worthless. So I call this entitlement plan a bad plan. What was thought good for to poor an middle class was actually devastating to the whole world. And folks the majority of the people I was doing work for were white.

Page 118: The historic West Oakland African Community paired non profit developers and low-income housing tax credit to build hundreds of new apartments and affordable condominiums near the light rail station that is one stop from downtown San Francisco.

My comment: The one good remedy using the existing system to bring about positive change in this chapter called Ensuring Broad Access to Affordable Neighborhoods.

Claiming Our Democracy (I must remind the reader that we are a Republic)

Page 133: Less than two weeks before Election Day 2005, a court decision was up held that blocked a controversial state law from taking effect that would have dramatically restricted the types of photo identification that may be used when voting. Thus African Americans were allowed to vote with a range of IDs.

My comment: Why can't we go a step further? Let's utilize the State's DMV branches to issue Voter ID cards to those who do not drive, but wish to vote. Therefore the State is doing the auditing of the person's ID.

Accessing Good Jobs, Wealth and Economic Prosperity

Page 165: as painful images of Hurricane Katrina have revealed, there remains a significant wealth gap between blacks and whites in this nation - one that must be closed if America is to thrive in the 21st century.

My comment: While Katrina exposed what is wrong in New Orleans, it was flooding, poor engineering, and incompetent government at city and State level. And yes there is a wealth gap. But I propose the author of this essay read both the Virtue of Prosperity and the Israel Test. I must challenge this notion that Barak Obama has not divided America with his rhetoric of rich –v-poor and then separately he inserts himself into local black white issues as he did in Boston. The Obama and company conveniently reach back to the paradigm of the 60s and 70s and wrongly connect it to black white issues of 50 years later. First there is nothing wrong with the gap. There will always be a gap. The gap is not caused solely by corrupt collusion of rich white people. Since there are rich black people one cannot even say it is a color gap.

Page 167: After the last recession, when white families saw there wealth grow slowly black families lost a fourth of theirs. When white families rode out the bumps in the stock market, black families saw their stock and mutual funds decline by an astounding two-thirds.

My comment: REALLY?!!!!! This author is basing his argument on a stock market conspiracy?!!!! The rising and lowering tide of the stock market adjusts the level of all boats mutually. The solution is not found in Obama's agenda. Nor is the solution based on the word 'fair' being shouted out by the Occupy Wall Street protests

Page 171: African Americans are 3.6 times more likely as whites to receive a home purchase loan from a sub-prime lender and 4.1 times as likely as whites to receive a refinance loan from sub-prime lenders. Sub-prime lending is usually one to six points over prime rate and is reserved for lending businesses that do not qualify for 'prime rates'.

My comment: The last sentence is exactly the deal Clinton cut with the banks when he passed the Affordable Housing Act. He forced banks to qualify what people who, by convention numbers practice, much like how Morningstar rates countries credit rating, for mortgages. The banks were allowed to offset the high risk that comes with unqualified lending with points to cover the risk. Those points were paid by the people that can't afford it. Jimmy Carter passed a similar law with regard to pensions. Obama's legacy is the infamous Obamacare. All three are Democrats. This agenda is prone to passing dramatic law aimed at social equality with its implementation left to Administrative Law. We saw what Freddie and Fannie can do. We are already feeling the negative impact of Obamacare in its nascent stages. Jimmy Carter's 401k plan is about to rear it's ugly head. All three programs force a program on a society that was not prepared for the change.

Page 173: [the whole Farrah Grey story is the one path to social equality]. He took no hand-outs; he was at the same time entrepreneurial and philanthropic. He was a good steward if money. And what went around came around.]

Page 177: The homeownership gap can be closed by lowering down payment requirements and making mortgages more available and affordable to all. Government officials must strengthen the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA, 1977, Jimmy Carter), a civil rights law prohibiting discrimination by banks against low-and moderate neighborhoods.

My comment: see my comment to page 171 above.

Closing the Racial Digital Divide

Page 216: So how in the span of 30 years, did the United States go from being an unchallenged technology leader to a nation falling behind in innovation. And second what does that mean for African Americans?

One explanation seems obvious. Many business leaders have under estimated the impact that personal computers would have in the hands of millions and the speed of change to follow.

My comment: The theme of this chapter is giving the Black Community more access to PCs and the Internet. While I like the idea and am inspired to open an Internet Cafe in the Over the Rhine Neighborhood in Cincinnati, I would do it to study what fruit unstructured Internet and usage would bear. I say that because of the myth the author creates that China and India are passing us up. What the author fails to point out is India and China are faced with a higher poverty gap who don't have PCs either. If indeed they even are out innovating the United States, which is debatable, access to PCs is an irrational leap in cause and effect analysis.