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My answer is that being affirmative requires that you
engage in tactics and stratagems that may have the
appearance of benefiting one group but in the long run, the
whole city receives the bounty of such progressive
enrichment.
Regrettably, many city mayors and council members who
are Latino or African-American recoil at the remote hint
that they could be fingered out by hostile media groups as
they being engaged in tactics that could resemble reverse
racism.
Sufficient to state, when you make mayonnaise, you
have to break some eggs and targeted economic empowerment
for the least will result in some sour faces of politicos
who want to make points off of such laudable efforts.
Our company's task is also to inform such minority
council members or mayors that if they do not have the
wherewithal to do the right thing in spite of real or
perceived opposition, their safest bet is to resign from
office and take a job that is non offensive to anyone and
everyone; and buy a rocking chair and call it a career.
Can you imagine the status of the civil rights movement
if Martin Luther King Jr.,Dorothy Height, Marcus Garvey,
Fannie Lou Hamer, Malcolm X and James B. Simmons, Jr.
(Toledo native and late civil rights activist) among many
others, had an attitude that was crafted in reluctance and
trepidation...where would we now be?
Without a struggle, there is no progress and oft times,
power does not acquiesce without a demand.
So, the choices are very stark and clear (1) say
nothing and do nothing or (2)
speak it out and then work it out. What category does our
mayor and our five minority city council members fall into?
You be the judge.
However, my company is desirous to help whenever and
wherever it can and so to that end, I have proposed to the
Toledo council members (who came to me at night for fear of
being seen) that the following, "low hanging fruit" should
be sufficient for them to work on for the near future; and
when they get their sea legs or some "starch in their
shirts", there is more for them to bite off and chew.
Now, remember these "low hanging fruit" (meaning on a
scale of 1-10, to pull of these proposals is a three at
best!) are only as good as the persistency and zeal of those
who initiate these acts.
Without staying power, these positive actions will die
on the vine and the city loses and the affected populace
becomes even more disillusioned with the power of government
to positively impact their lives:
Low Hanging Fruit:
(1)
city to set up an advertising fund to "sell" Toledo
opportunities and benefits to Atlanta, Raleigh, Columbus,
Indianapolis, New Orleans, Chicago, Cleveland and Detroit.
(2)
city to target "black media"...be it Ebony, Jet,
professional publications, journals of black sororities and
fraternities and social media about job openings and inform
the reader why Toledo should be on their radar as a place to
come to, or return to.
(3)
city to joint venture with
minority professional groups and inform them personally and
via e mail and social media of job openings in both city and
county government. This includes openings for firefighters,
police officers and public school teaching jobs.
(4)
city to joint venture with local corporations to have
minority high school and college students intern with
corporations for short periods of time.
(5)
city to joint venture with
TPS regarding the recruitment of both school administrators
and the recruitment of teachers at predominately black
colleges and universities.
(6)
city to work with the many
local black churches to advise and mentor junior high school
students and work with and assist single parents who are
overwhelmed with "kid" issues.
(7)
city to work with the
local NAACP to have local contractors increase their
outreach to minority students regarding apprenticeship
programs and to increase the number of minority workers at
their job sites. Note: City of Oregon will soon employ about
a thousand workers to build a new and upcoming power plant.
How many of those workers will be named, DeMarcus or
La'Tanisha?
(8)
city to provide "city"
scholarships in conjunction with Owens Community College and
Lourdes and the University of Toledo for students to enter
into academic studies regarding careers in public service,
public administration and law enforcement.
(9)
city to sponsor public service announcements on local radio
and TV and social media advising kids to wait until they are
married and have a job before they start a family.
(10)
city to have an ongoing campaign of going door-to-door to
recruit students to either finish high school and to start
college prep or to obtain a two-year degree.
(11)
city to solicit
foundations and corporations for funds to provide needed
child care services so that single parents can start and/or
finish high school or a degreed program.
The mayor would set up an office called: The Office Of
External Affairs and the mayor would appoint a person of a
MBA ranking who would, with a staff, initiate these agendas.
It is novel and different but I surmise that with the
current bleakness of Toledo losing many of its best and
brightest to other cities, nothing ventured is nothing
gained!
Don't you think so, Mayor & Company?
There you have it. A bunch of low hanging fruit that can
be expanded and accomplished IF there is a will to do so.
To not do so, is to tacitly admit failure and to agree
that Toledo will remain a city mired in petty politics and a
city that those who can...leave and those who can't...stay
and fumble around in the dark for a helping door handle.
Contact Lafe Tolliver at
tolliver@Juno.com
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