DO WE STILL NEED MARRIAGE? MY TAKE

I'm still working on Black Women of WW II. In the meantime as a psychologist there are certain social issues I consider important to talk about. Today's topic is marriage and children:

Today I read an article titled Rethinking Marriage. The World Has Changed. It's Time! By Melissa Harris-Lacewell, The Nation. Posted October 19, 2009 http://www.alternet.org/sex/143374/rethinking_marriage._the_world_has_changed._it's_time!?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzRss&utm_campaign=alternet.
She asks if marriage is dead and then argues for marriage. Harris-Lacewell reminds those of us who are the descendents of slaves that our ancestors struggled under the most inhuman institution, but found ways to maintain their marriages – marriages that were not recognized by the state. In spite of our ancestors commitment to marriage she notes that today black women are less likely to marry than any other ethnic or racial group. This is troubling as there are more black children born to single mothers than married mothers – Dad is often missing. Research suggests children thrive better in two parent homes -- as long as they are safe and emotionally healthy homes.

I agree with the author when she suggests that marriage -- at least a bad marriage can be unbearable -- been there, done that. I also agree with her when she says that it is possible to have a fulfilling marriage. I guess divorcees like me just have to be willing to take that chance again. The first step in changing the trend is to raise sons who make good husbands.

Another author Patrick Welsh http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/15/AR2009101503477.html?nav=hcmoduletmvin Sunday’s, October 18, 2009 Washington Post Op-Ed Making the Grade Isn't About Race. It's about Parents, argues that the absence of fathers is the main reason many black children do not do well in school and ultimately take out their anger and frustration on society. I agree with this author as well. In defense of single mothers – I am divorced and was a single parent. However, I don’t believe most mothers set out to be single parents – I certainly did not – my marriages failed (yes, there were two). What I've learned as a psychologist is that children need two parents and they blamed themselves when Dad is not there. Children who have loving, nurturing fathers feel safe and loved. They also have a strong desire to excel and are less likely to succumb to negative peer pressure.

WHAT ARE THE SOLUTIONS? We must encourage our sons to change their value systems. We must help our sons to understand that they cannot simply be sperm donors but rather be husbands and fathers – before their children are conceived. We must also help our daughters to understand the need to postpone sex, focus on understanding what their values are hold out for men who share their values and will be suitable husbands and fathers – before they hop in bed. Fathers must demonstrate to their sons how to be fathers by modeling fathering. Finally, parents of sons must learn to hold those sons to the same expectation they hold their daughters to.
Copyright © Sharon D. Powell, 2009 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

WHAT I HAVE LEARNED:

In order to attract readers to my blog I need to write everyday – not always an easy task. Today I wrote an article about the first black women to serve in the military, but I am a perfectionist and decided the article was not ready to post. I write at home without an editor. There are editing services online that proof read, very well, but for a fee – this gets expensive. Thus, the article chronicling the experiences of the first black women in the military (Charity Adams Earley, Commander of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, Suffolk, VA native, Della H. Raney the first black nurse commissioned as a lieutenant, Harriet Ida Pikens and Frances Wills, the first black WAVES sworn in December 22, 1944; and many more) will post later.


I have no shame and if you find a grammar error or typo I welcome comments, feedback, or advice.

But today I will write about what I have learned. The book I am working on is about blacks who served in the military, however, there were numerous individuals of all racial and ethnic groups serving during the war.

WHAT I HAVE LEARNED: The world faced a tremendous threat. There were individuals with resources and troops who were capable of inhuman acts – such as marching fellow human beings into gas ovens. I have also learned that there were some courageous people who found ways to hide Jewish families or smuggle them out of the country at tremendous risk to their own lives. I’ve also learned that there were patriotic Americans of Hispanic, Native American, Japanese and European descent who went into harm’s way because they knew this country was under threat.

Yes, mistakes were made – Patriotic American citizens were mistreated – but ultimately the right side won. Now a new generation must deal with dangerous, evil, often hidden enemies. It seems clear to me that lessons of World War II may be of benefit today.
Copyright © Sharon D. Powell, 2009 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

WORLD WAR II INVISIBLE WARRIORS, BLACK MEN AND WOMEN FOUGHT FOR THE RIGHT TO FIGHT

When I was a very young girl I watched black and white World War II movies. The heroes in the movies I watched all seemed larger than life and so romantic – I often imagined myself in a military uniform. I suppose I was destined to follow my brother’s example and enlist in the navy. Fortunately, thanks to the service of the black men and women including my brother, who served during the World War II, I had opportunities that were unavailable to my brother.


Through the years I have studied much about World War II, and the role black men and women played in defending our country, in spite of the segregation that generation endured. I also have come to understand and appreciate that generation's valuable gift to my generation. Indeed, I would not have had the opportunity to serve in the navy and travel to exotic places if not for the selfless service of the 1.2 million black service men and women of my brother's generation. They fought two wars. One was to protect our country's freedom. But, the second required them to fight for the right – the very opportunity – to fight for their country. Their struggle proved that they were relentlessly loyal Americans. Their story is moving.

The story of black World War II service members is not just a black story; this is an American story. This is the story of ordinary Americans who loved their country and in spite of their invisibility, were willing to risk their lives defending freedoms they did not enjoy. They had a unique insight into the dangers Nazism, Fascism and Imperialism represented. The late actor, Ossie Davis, a WW II veteran himself summed it up when he said, "This was our country and we were under attack – we had to fight," in his role as Lorenzo Dufau in the 2005 movie Proud.

They were on the outside looking in, noses pressed against the glass, stamping their feet in the chill, watching the festivities within. Invisible warriors had an aching need to make others recognize them but often found that such attempts rarely succeeded

Their stories are a compelling testament to the strength of the human spirit to endure against remarkable odds. Their commitment to their country is inspiring particularly in view of the discrimination they lived through. They set the example for future generations to follow. They also came home from the war invigorated and ready to revitalize the civil rights movement, thus making it possible for a starry eyed, little farm girl like myself to follow my dream and become a sailor in the greatest navy in the world.
Copyright © Sharon D. Powell, 2009 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

THE HERO I NEVER MET: THE WORLD WAR II MONTFORD POINT MARINE WHO BECAME A NAVY CHAPLAIN

My heroes include my parents and grandparents, along with my siblings, and aunts and uncles. I never had the chance to meet retired Navy Chaplain and fellow North Carolinian, Capt. Thomas Hayswood McPhatter, USNR (Ret) but he is also my hero.

Last year I interviewed McPhatter by telephone from his nursing home in San Diego several times for my book. I found his name online at http://www.montfordpointmarines.com/About%20us.html. McPhatter was one of the first 1,000 black men to become a US Marine. The devoutly religious Presbyterian chaplain had a compelling life story but before he would agree to tell me his story he needed to know if I was raised in the church. ‘I was raised a Baptist,’ I said. ‘But I’m a Presbyterian now.’ This seemed to ease his concerns and he began to tell me his story. McPhatter was a freshman in college when World War II began. When he heard the Marine Corps was accepting black men he decided to enlist.

Blacks had been barred from joining the Marine Corps by Congress when the branch was first established in 1775. Pressured to change the policy, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, Maj. Gen. Thomas Holcomb finally proposed the enlistment of 1,000 blacks in the volunteer Marine Corps Reserve for duty in the general service in a segregated composite defense battalion. They became known as Montford Point Marines in reference to the segregated boot camp at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina which was open from 1942 until 1949.

Sgt. McPhatter served in the Pacific and fought in the Battle of Iwo Jima. During our second telephone conversation he described the landing – blacks are conveniently left out of most accounts of the famous invasion of the Japanese island. McPhatter was very angry when he saw Flags of Our Fathers, Clint Eastwood's 2006 film of the battle. There were no blacks in the movie – much to McPhatter’s chagrin. “We were there, but you wouldn't know it from the movie,” McPhatter said. He remembered standing at debarkation waiting to go over the side of the Landing Ship, Tank (LST) with the first wave of Marines who landed on the beach.

I interviewed McPhatter in 2008 – 64 years after he and the other 900 Marines had risked their lives for black Americans like me – a generation not yet born. As he described climbing over the side of the ship I could hear the fear in his voice. Several books have been written about the Montford Point Marines who landed on Iwo Jima. McPhatter was part of the 8th Marine Ammunition Company. They had to keep the fighting Marines supplied with ammunition – which made the Montford Point Marines easy targets for the enemy, according to McPhatter. They finally got their recognition during a commemoration ceremony in 1995 – after which Chaplain McPhatter said he prayed, saying, “Thank you Lord, thank you Lord, they’ve finally acknowledged use.”

I am a Disaster Assistance Employee with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and travel. On Memorial Day, May 25, 2009 I was in my hotel room in Florida watching the evening news. The photograph of a black naval officer flashed on the screen followed by video of Marines carrying a flag draped coffin. I recognized the man – it was Capt. McPhatter. Instantly I knew I would never get to meet this invisible warrior.

I had called Capt. McPhatter in February. His voice was very weak, he sounded confused and he did not remember me. When I told him I was calling from North Carolina he wistfully said, “I wish I was in North Carolina right now.” Then his voice trailed off. I said goodbye and hung up.

In our final interview last year the chaplain quoted from a poem written by St. Isaac of Nineveh Bishop (c. 660-680), “Be at peace with your own soul, then heaven and earth will be at peace with you." The Marine (once a Marine always a Marine) who went into harm’s way to defend freedoms he did not yet enjoy is now at peace. He is back in the Tar Hill state and buried in his hometown of Lumberton, North Carolina.
Copyright © Sharon D. Powell, 2009 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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NAVY NAMES SHIP FOR CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST MEDGAR EVERS

My beloved navy is naming a supply ship after a slain civil rights leader. This civil rights leader, Medgar Evers (1925-1963) was also one of the 1.2 million African Americans who served during World War II. I stand on his shoulders. His stint in the army made a difference for my generation. And now a navy supply ship will bear his name.Navy Names Ship After Civil Rights Activist Medgar Evers
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During the course of my research for my book I learned that many historians attribute the success of the civil rights movement to the African American men and women such as Edgars who returned home after serving during World War II and invigorated the civil rights movement. These black veterans had risked their lives for their country and thus believed they had earned the right to equal treatment and full citizenship.

Army veteran Medgar Edgars, who fought in both France and Germany during World War II before receiving an honorable discharge in 1946, was among that group. When he came home he did what many newly discharged veterans did – he went to college, met the girl of his dreams, got married and tried to achieve the American dream. However, Evers faced unbelievable odds toward achieving that dream – racism and discrimination. Evers began working in 1952 for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Evers organized nonviolent protests, voter registration drives and boycotts in his home state.

Sadly, on June 12, 1963, the 37-year-old Mississippi native was assassinated in the driveway of his home. The war veteran was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery. His death prompted President John F. Kennedy to ask the Congress for a comprehensive civil rights bill. Since his death there have been many honors to this invisible warrior including naming a college after him and now a ship.

My generation stands on the shoulders of men like Medgar Evers and we owe them a debt of gratitude that perhaps we can never repay. Naming a ship for one of those invisible warriors is the least that we can do. I am so pleased to see that Evers is receiving this honor. It will be two years before USNS Medgar Evers is ready to sail but when she does sets sail the men and women who sail on that ship will be sailing on a ship named for an American hero.
Copyright © Sharon D. Powell, 2009 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

OFF TO WAR: 1.2 MILLION STRONG: THE STORY OF AFRICAN AMERICANS WHO SERVED IN WORLD WAR II

"The man in uniform must grit his teeth, square his shoulders,
and do his best as a soldier, confident that there are millions of Americans outside the armed forces and more persons than he knows in high places within the military establishment, who will never cease fighting to remove all social barriers and every humiliating practice, which now confronts him. But only by being at all times, a first rate soldier can the man in uniform help in this battle which shall be fought and won."
Judge William H. Hasties, Dean of (HBCU) Howard University Law School, 1943

1942 – As the fighting progressed thousands of young men and eventually young women too, traded their civilian clothes for military uniforms. Some joined, but most men were drafted. After considerable pressure, draft boards began including black men, most in their early twenties in the World War II draft. Anxiously they waited for the notice, some hoping it would not come. It was a coin toss every time the postman came. When a young man received a letter with the salutation "Greetings from the President", he knew he had lost the coin toss and off to the induction station he went. There he had a choice between the Navy, Army, Coast Guard and eventually even the Marine Corps as a Montford Point Marine. Once the new inductee arrived at his training camp, he got a haircut, shots against exotic diseases and uniforms. Now he had to learn how to be a GI.

The wait for a draft notice was often unbearable. In a small farming community in Eastern North Carolina, it took so long for the draft notice to arrive that my uncle, Foster Brown, Sr. assumed he would not be called thus on a rainy Sunday evening, Uncle Foster and his future bride stood on a bridge between Halifax County and Warren County and said their vows. The couple had bought their marriage license in one county but wanted to get married in another county. The minister did not believe the marriage would be legal unless they stood on the county line. With his mother, Eva Brown, and my grandmother, Nora Alston, as witnesses my grandfather, Colonel Tee Alston, Sr. shined his headlights so the preacher could see his Bible, Uncle Foster married my mother's older sister, Alice. Unbeknownst to Uncle Foster he was not off the hook, as he soon received his "Greetings from the President" letter and on May 27, 1942 off to army boot camp Uncle Foster went. From basic training my uncle headed to Italy where he drove supply trucks. Alice waited patiently at home for her husband to come back safely.
Copyright © Sharon D. Powell, 2009 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

#links

#links
Follow this link to a blog written by Jo Anne Moore. She give a well presented argument for her views on our new president. I believe we do need a stimulus similar to Roosevelt's New Deal, along with a logical health reform package that includes at a minimum a public option. There aren't enough people organizing and voicing their support for that.
Sharon

A DOG NAMED SAMMY

Today I read a blog about first loves, http://justdoingmythingcom.blogspot.com/. Ernaka reminisces about her first love. It got me thinking about my first love, a hound and beagle mixed I named Chucky -- I was about fourteen or fifteen. Chucky began as my two younger brother's dog but he navigated to me. Actually, I claimed him. Whenever my brothers tried to leave the yard with Chucky I would call him and he would run back to me.

Chucky was my second dog, my first when I was just seven, was a collie I named Lassie. Chucky slept with me, talked on the telephone with my friends -- or at least he licked the telephone and howled. On a bright Sunday morning while our family was getting ready for church I looked out my bedroom window and saw a neighbor walk by carrying my poor dog on a shovel. Chucky had been hit by a car and was dead. I was devastated. My mother tried to find another hound and beagle mix for me but came home with a terrier we named Randy -- but he couldn't replace Chucky.

That was many, many years ago. Three weeks ago my fiancé David dragged me through the county animal shelter. We visit the shelter often just to look at the animals. I had no intention of getting a dog -- and then I saw him. Here was a two and half week old hound and beagle mix. Call it fate, kismet or destiny -- the sign above him said his name was Sammy. My father's name was Samuel and there are numerous family members who are either named Samuel, Sammie, or Samantha -- my daughter's name. I was smitten, still I had no plans to adopt a dog -- the nest is empty and I am very comfortable with my independence.

But I couldn’t get this adorable little pup out of my mind. Looking into his eyes took me back to a simpler time in my life when my biggest problem was finishing a book report for my lit class. I left Sammy at the shelter and went home. I couldn't get his big brown eyes out of my mind. I called the shelter and asked if they still had Sammy -- they did and two days later Sammy was home with me! Now I am up every morning walking this new life before I've even had a shower or my first cup of coffee. I've also had to deal with a couple of accidents in the house and now I'll have to clean the carpet. I worry that the house may smell like a dog and am on guard constantly-- it's great.

I raised three children but I had forgotten what it was like to lose sleep, change diapers and everything else associated with taking care of a new life. I miss my babies but admit I had enjoyed the freedom that comes with an empty nest. Yet, Sammy has brought a joy to my life that I had not expected. I miss my parents, my childhood and my first love, a little hound and beagle mix named Chucky. Sammy helps me cope with the loss of my parents, my youth and the empty nest. Now if I could just get him to stop chewing the rug under my dining room table.
Copyright ©Sharon D. Powell, 2009 all rights reserved

I'M TIRED OF DAVE LETTERMAN

Am I the only one who is tired of the media's obsession with David Letterman's escapades? Okay, he had sex with women on his staff -- he is not the first man or woman to do that. Was it wrong? Yes. Does it have any impact on anyone's life other than his wife, child and staff? No.

It is time to admit that we are human and sometimes make poor choices. During one of my graduate classes, I don't remember which class as there are so many courses psych grad students have to take, I learned that we tend to hold others around us to a higher standard than we hold ourselves. That means we expect others to overlook our dumb mistakes, however we are often unwilling to give others the same break.

Currently, there are some who are shocked and scandalized because Dave Letterman did not live up to their standard. Our standards are personal and don't have anyhing to do with anyone else. I don't mean to sound like a psychologist -- I'm supposed to be in recovery from my former profession. I just believe there are so many real issues that need attention -- issues that impact or communities. David Letterman's behavior does not impact our communities.

It is probably good to take a look at our own behavior, ask ourselves what can we learn from Letterman's disclosure and perhaps commit to avoiding the same mistakes --and get back to debating real issues such as child abuse, domestic violence, crime and get out of our celebrities bedrooms.

Don't get me started talking about the feeding frenzy around Jon and kate:-)
Copyright ©Sharon D. Powell, 2009 all rights reserved

PRESIDENT NEEDS COLIN POWELL

Our new president is faced with a difficult decision – what strategy will work to defeat the Taliban and Al Qaeda – and find Osma bin Laden. “Asking for patience until he completes an assessment of the situation over the next few weeks, the president urged lawmakers to keep their minds open to a nuanced range of options,” writes Christi Parsons and James Oliphant, Obama mulls middle ground in Afghanistan war strategy, October 7, 2009: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg.

According to Parsons and Oliphant the president is considering a middle range of the spectrum, “somewhere between a major increase in forces and a large drawdown,” they write. They also note that the president is caught in the middle facing pressure from fellow Democrats who prefer a draw down and Republicans “eager to boost the war effort.”

Clearly our new president has advisors who are offering reasonable options however, I believe one advisor he needs to confer with is former Secretary of State and retired Army General Collin Powell. Why Powell? The retired general certainly understands the impact of sending men and women into harms way. Powell also understands what it means to serve in combat – he served two tours of duty in Vietnam. This would not be the first time President Obama has sought advice from Powell. According to an article by Sarah Baxter and posted at TIMESONLINE, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article2042072.ece, the former secretary of state twice met Barack Obama when he was the Democratic candidate, to advise him on foreign policy. This was a good strategy then and would be a good strategy now.

If America destroys Al Qaeda and finds Osma bin Laden this will bring closure to the victims of the 9/11 attack on our country. America needs justice – bin Laden needs to face an American jury and answer for his crimes. Eight years ago when our forces launched the attack in Afghanistan this was the goal. It is unfortunately that our government allowed Iraq and Saddam Hussein to distract us. Hussein is gone and now our focus must be Al Qaeda and Osma bin Laden. More than likely more troops are needed. This is sad -- as a mother and grandmother I undersand how hard it is to make that supreme sacriface and lose our love ones, however as a military woman and an American I understand that service men and women may often be called upon to risk their lives for their country and ultimately die for their country. Iraq was an unfortunate distration but now we need to finish the business Osma bin Laden started eight years ago when he attacked our nation.
Copyright ©Sharon D. Powell, 2009 all rights reserved

US Supreme Court More Diverse

Today was Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s first day at her new job on the Supreme Court. Sotomayor’s appointment to the highest court by the first president of African and European descent represents a move toward making the highest court mirror the Americans impacted by their rulings. When President Barack Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor he took a major step toward making the court look like America – diverse – that melting pot.
America is a nation of diverse cultures and ethnic groups and a culturally diverse Supreme Court gives the court insight it otherwise would not have. Regardless of your political views the idea of a court that mirrors our nation’s population should be welcomed.
Sotomayor brings impeccable credentials to her new post – Sotomayor’s credentials are impressive. She served as a judge on the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. She is also a Lecturer at Columbia University Law School and was also an adjunct professor at New York University Law School.
Sotomayor’s story is also impressive: “Judge Sonia Sotomayor has lived the American dream. Born to a Puerto Rican family, she grew up in a public housing project in the South Bronx. Her parents moved to New York during World War II – her mother served in the Women’s Auxiliary Corps during the war. Her father, a factory worker with a third-grade education, died when Sotomayor was nine years old. Her mother, a nurse, then raised Sotomayor and her younger brother, Juan, now a physician in Syracuse. After her father’s death, Sotomayor turned to books for solace, and it was her new found love of Nancy Drew that inspired a love of reading and learning, a path that ultimately led her to the law,” http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/ Background-on-Judge-Sonia-Sotomayor/.
Sotomayer brings experience that her colleagues do not have. In an Associated Press article that appeared in yesterday’s News & Observer, “Supreme Court returns with new face” Mark Sherman notes that “Unlike her colleagues, Sotomayer also has experience as a trial judge.”
There are some who may be concerned about how Sotomayor may rule on hot button cases, but we all must admit that appointing a Latina woman has helped to make the Supreme Court represent the demographics of the US. The Supreme Court is much more diverse and representative of the US population.
I applaud Judge Sotomayor on her new job and wish her well.
Copyright ©Sharon D. Powell, 2009 all rights reserved

THE SUPREME COURT BECOMES MORE DIVERSE

Today was Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s first day at her new job on the Supreme Court. Sotomayor’s appointment to the highest court by the first president of African and European descent represents a move toward making the highest court mirror the Americans impacted by their rulings. When President Barack Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor he took a major step toward making the court look like America – diverse – the melting pot.
America is a nation of diverse cultures and ethnic groups and a culturally diverse Supreme Court gives that court insight it otherwise would not have. Regardless of your political leanings the idea of a court that mirrors our nation’s population should be welcomed.
Sotomayor brings impeccable credentials to her new post. She served as a judge on the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. She is also a Lecturer at Columbia University Law School and was also an adjunct professor at New York University Law School.
Her life story is also impressive, “Judge Sonia Sotomayor has lived the American dream. Born to a Puerto Rican family, she grew up in a public housing project in the South Bronx. Her parents moved to New York during World War II – her mother served in the Women’s Auxiliary Corps during the war. Her father, a factory worker with a third-grade education, died when Sotomayor was nine years old. Her mother, a nurse, then raised Sotomayor and her younger brother, Juan, now a physician in Syracuse. After her father’s death, Sotomayor turned to books for solace, and it was her new found love of Nancy Drew that inspired a love of reading and learning, a path that ultimately led her to the law,” http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/">http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/ Background-on-Judge-Sonia-Sotomayor/.
Sotomayer brings experience that her colleagues do not have. In an Associated Press article that appeared in yesterday’s News & Observer, “Supreme Court returns with new face” Mark Sherman notes that “Unlike her colleagues, Sotomayer also has experience as a trial judge.”
There are some who may be concerned about how Sotomayor may rule on hot button cases, but we all must admit that appointing a Latina woman has helped to make the Supreme Court represent the demographics of the US. The Supreme Court is much more diverse and representative of the US population.
I applaud Judge Sotomayor on her new job and wish her well.

How Do American Cities become Worthy of the Olympic Games?

As the morning began many Chicagoans were hopeful they would host the 2016 Olympic Games. But this was not to be the case as they lost their bid on the first round of votes. There’s much debate about why Chicago did not make it past the first round of voting this morning. I imagine there are some who do not care that Chicago lost their bid while others feel Chicago didn’t deserve the opportunity to host the games. Activist and author Kevin Powell (no relationship to this writer) voiced this view in his Op-Ed titled “Chicago, Obama, the Olympics, and the Murder of Derrion Albert” posted on Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kevin-powell/chicago-obama-the-olympic_b_307564.html.
Powell argues that Chicago and most major urban US cities need a “domestic Marshall Plan,” which he says would deal with the social issues plaguing these cities. Powell writes that these issues include failing schools, terrible housing conditions, limited job, career, and business opportunities, a culture of violence and “the hopelessness and mayhem that led to the very recent beating death of a teen named Derrion Albert.”
I disagree with Powell when he says Chicago did not deserve to host the games. This opportunity would have invigorated many industries and businesses thus generating needed revenue and jobs. However Powell did correctly identify a major concern and his call for an urban Marshall plan is right on the money. Inner city residents aren’t the only individuals impacted by the decline in urban areas. The entire city and nation suffers – rampant crime, particularly violent crime threatens the entire nation and may have influenced voters in Copenhagen this morning.
Is it possible that voters were swayed by images of that unfortunate young man being beaten to death by other young men— young men who should have had his back. When I worked in human services I found that there was a disconnect between mainstream America and the kind of youths who are capable of beating another human being to death. Many of the men I worked with had experienced so much abuse early in their lives that they were unable to feel empathy or compassion – they lacked a sense of humanity which made them extremely dangerous. We need to make sure all children grow up in safe and loving environments free from crime and violence.
Any plan should focus on ensuring children do not have to experience the kind of violence that teaches them to be dangerous. This plan should include programs to teach overwhelmed parents how to discipline their children without resorting to violence. Anytime a parent or caregiver strikes a child this parent unwittingly teaches that child that violence is the only recourse for all problems. An urban Marshall plan should also focus on motivating youths to view themselves as a part of the greater community and invested in the well being of their communities. It does not matter whether Kevin Powell believes Chicago deserved the Summer Olympics if urban youths do not feel invested in the success of their communities.
There is work to be done in order ensure our cities are ready for the next bid. We have to make sure the Darrion Alberts of the world are safe in order to attract the kind of events that will help our society.
Copyright ©Sharon D. Powell, 2009 all rights reserved

An Invisible Warrior Passed this Week

They are known as the greatest generation – the military men and women who served during World War II. According to Veterans Administration statistics they are dying at the rate of a thousand a day. Sadly, one of the veterans who died this week was a pleasant former Air Force B-29 gunner I met briefly on a humid summer afternoon last year. I learned of this former warrior's death today when I saw his four line death notice in the Raleigh News & Observer. I have the daily newspaper delivered to my door each morning and read the entire paper. This is a good thing otherwise I would not have known that Durell Russer, Sr, 89 had passed. Russer was a Georgia native, who served in the Pacific during World War II.

I interviewed him last summer for a book I am writing. Russer walked with a cane, was stooped with age, and appeared frail. Yet he was a gracious host who gladly welcomed me, a stranger into his home. He told me he was hard of hearing and his memory was failing, nevertheless he seemed eager to talk to me about the war. I had a list of questions I wanted to ask him but after several minutes of yelling back and and forth I realized this was not working. Instead, I just turned on my tape recorder and let him talk. Just inside the front door hanging on his wall was an 8 X 10 portrait of former First Lady, the late Eleanor Roosevelt.

“I met Mrs. Roosevelt,” he said. ‘Oh really’, I replied and waited for him to explain. “She came to Tinian when I was there," he said. Tinian is the Pacific island where the B-29 bomber named Enola Gay took off from to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I wanted to know how he felt about that but could not ask questions as he couldn't hear me. Instead, I waited for him to tell me more about meeting Eleanor Roosevelt.

During her visit Russer said the first lady ate lunch at his table – which Russer considered an honor as the men at his table were all African American. These men did not expect the first lady to single them out to share a meal with them because they were black, according to Russer. "She told us President Roosevelt wanted us to know he liked the job we were doing," Russer said.

I got the impression Russer and his comrades needed to hear these encouraging words. They had been conditioned to believe they were invisible, much like the narrator of Ralph Ellison’s 1952 novel, The Invisible Man. Ellison's narrator, who is black explains that he is not invisible because of science but because others refuse to see him because he is "a negro" – that day Russer and his comrades became visible.

I believe Eleanor Roosevelt was willing to recognize men such as Russer along with the other 1.2 million African American men and women of the greatest black generation who served during World War II. Here's to you Durell Russer -- invisible no more.
Copyright ©Sharon D. Powell, 2009 all rights reserved