Hanging on in '10, charging into '11

Coming to an end is 2010, and I'm just glad I "made it." I'm still living and breathing. The struggle to hold on this past year has been immeasurable. But I did it by putting my pride to the side and taking on jobs that helped me keep my head above water. So I am grateful for what I have and optimistic about what will come in 2011.

As always, it is time for me to review my year of columns. No issue was of greater importance than the loss of my colleague Delores McCain. The stilling of her voice has had a major impact on this paper. Delores and I traveled in many of the same circles, and it is still strange to go places and not see her there. I do enjoy seeing the previously published Streetbeat columns. But with so many pressing issues out here for people to voice their opinions on, it leaves a huge void as to what people are currently thinking.

Politics as usual played a major role in many of my writings. From the race to become the new president of the Cook County Board to the governor's race, we saw the fall of Stroger while Quinn was able to hold onto his seat by the slimmest of margins. We even had Tavis Smiley show up with his symposium on the "Black Agenda." Yet months later, nothing has truly come of it as it was just another opportunity for people to posture without purpose.

One of the continuous themes of my columns was what is good about living on this side of town. Over the course of the year, I wrote about Douglas High School. The children there want a future and a good education and are seeking it in spite of it not being a proper high school. I got to meet DeAndre Robinson, a young man whose future is bright and who has already declared he will one day be mayor of this city. DeAndre represents the young people of Chicago who, rather than bemoan what they don't have, takes a look at what is available and sees how to make it work. That kind of ingenuity has always been at the forefront of the black experience in this country.

Two other hidden gems are hospitals. Loretto Hospital specializes in the treatment of addiction while Hartgrove Hospital does the same for mental illness. Both diseases are plagues that we don't often speak about within the black community. Thankfully, we have a place and specialists to help heal those problems.

We had several of what I call "stunt" events. State Rep. LaShawn Ford's call to bring out the National Guard garnered headlines, led him to host a huge meeting, but the issue fizzled after that. The shootings and mayhem continue. A study published by some "deep thinkers" claimed that the West Side Wal-Mart caused businesses as far away as Roosevelt and Western to Harlem and Irving to shut down. To believe that people would drive past the HIP shopping plaza to come to Wal-Mart on our side of town is farfetched to say the least. Plus, they could easily zip further north to go to the one in Niles.

Is there anyone who believes that Supt. Weis' decision to call in "gang leaders" and threaten to arrest them for the crimes of their members was anything more than a stunt? Months later, the killings are still occurring, and I'm not seeing headlines about those so-called leaders going to jail. If our society doesn't hold parents responsible for their children's actions, how are we going to hold their so-called gang leaders' feet to the fire?

I spent over a month letting everyone know about how Bethel New Life fired local workers who were doing a good job in exchange for hiring new workers. Then there was the flood that brought as much as 6 feet of water into some people's basements. Many of us are still recovering from that event. One local homeowner had a minor fire, then watched her entire house flattened by the authorities, which should make all of us leery because if it happened to her, it can happen to the rest of us.

The final quarter of the year has brought the news that will dominate the first quarter of 2011. That was the decision by Daley not to seek re-election. That brought candidates, whom we haven't seen or heard from in ages, out the woodwork, all wanting to be the next mayor of Chicago. The new year will have all of them going full force and I can't wait for it.

Two more community gems to honor

If you've ever gotten an e-mail from me, I end it with an African Proverb: On the day of victory, no one will be tired. That proverb has served me well in terms of hoping for/expecting/wanting a victory so some of our social ills can be solved and have a definitive end.

Until that day comes, there are agencies that have committed themselves to the process of helping us one day arrive at that "victory." Last week Tuesday, I got a chance to attend the 10th annual meeting to hear a report on Sankofa Safe Child Initiative (SSCI). They are located at 1500 S. Keeler in the North Lawndale community. The meeting was held at the brand new Hartgrove Hospital, 5730 W. Roosevelt Road.

The partnership between those two agencies is a perfect fit. Sankofa, which means "looking back to go forward," has taken on several areas of social need. One of their biggest initiatives is focusing on grandparents/kinship caregivers raising children and youth who have aged out of foster care. To accommodate those families, they built Sankofa House, a five-story, 58-unit residential facility at 4041 W. Roosevelt Road. SSCI also offers services in job training, life skill, parenting classes, GED, expungement, child care and counseling/mentoring, just to name a few. They also offer a wonderful boutique, It's In The Bag, at 2413 W. Madison.

SSCI is the brainchild of Executive Director Annetta Wilson, who is barely 5 feet tall, but what she lacks in physical height she makes up for in energy put forth. She has given her best to SSCI and demands the same of her staff.

One of the questions I posed to Mrs. Wilson was how SSCI ended up partnering with Hartgrove Hospital. For years she had known Chuck Levy the Community Relations representative from the hospital. Because of their mutual concern about issues on the West Side, they developed a personal relationship which led to a business arrangement as well.

For years, I have driven by Hartgrove Hospital's site at 520 N. Ridgeway. I knew they dealt with mental health issues, but that issue wasn't on my immediate radar. About three years ago, the hospital moved to the new location on Roosevelt Road. Attending the annual report meeting was the first time I had been at the new facility, and I admit I didn't know it was there. I do remember when the land was vacant and plans had been announced for the new development that would occur on it. But I also have to admit the furthest I had ventured was into the new Aldi's on south Central Avenue.

Hartgrove Hospital's new building is beautiful and the staff was very pleasant. They offer services for all age groups who have behavioral issues. They are especially concerned about children and adolescents who display sexually problematic behavior. Other services include substance abuse, neuropsychiatric inpatient services, self-injury services, and corresponding services in Spanish.

I want to keep highlighting the little-known-but-positive forces at work here on the West Side. When places such as SSCI and Hartgrove Hospital are put on people's radar, then we know where we can go or send our love ones for treatment. And when those persons have been treated and are "cured," that is a victory we all can celebrate.

Merry Christmas and Celebrate Kwanzaa. I'll be at Malcolm X every day, beginning the day after Christmas, as part of the Chicago Black Author's Network. It goes on each day through New Year's Day, and there is plenty of free parking. Come out and join in the activities.

When Families Gather, Politics Should Be On The Table

Over the next few weeks as we celebrate Christmas, Kwanzaa, and the New Year, we will be getting together with family and friends. We will see people whom we see all the time. We will see others whom we don't see as often. A lot of the conversation when people get together will be discussing their lives, the lives of their children and life in general. One subject that people don't bring up but should be at the forefront of any conversation is politics. Now, I know a lot of people like to proclaim that they don't deal in politics. Unfortunately, if you're "living and breathing," then politics is affecting you. In truth, it affects 100 percent of what we do.

Now, there is one subject that I would like everyone to discuss over Christmas dinner, while lighting the Kinara at Kwanzaa or during the commercials on all the football games on New Year's Day. That subject? Why it's one which should be on the mouths of anyone living or even visiting this city. Who will be the next mayor of Chicago?

The major media and many pundits have already anointed Rahm Emanuel as our next mayor even before the voting has begun. Heck ... truthfully, it's been even before we know who will officially be on the ballot and who will be kicked off. But I am not one to give Rahm that much credit. In truth, the very strategy of his campaign to overload the media with his face has backfired. It has done little more than draw attention to the fact that he is quickly becoming "the candidate whom we see but never hear." Rahm is becoming like Jackie Kennedy Onassis. A face we all recognize but a voice that we don't.

A lot of talk has been going on because Rahm has decided that he doesn't want to do many of the political forums. He wants to win the mayoral ship without addressing issues directly to the voters. He wants to win based on hearsay and not speech that is directed at us, the everyday man and woman walking the streets of the West Side.

If you're like me, any candidate wishing to become the next mayor of this city has a lot of questions to answer. This city is currently near bankrupt, directly related to having had a mayor who didn't feel he needed to talk to his populace. He did what he wanted to do and look at the fine mess we are now in.

So, as you gather together this holiday season, talk about the upcoming municipal election and whom you would like to see win. Encourage your family members if they aren't registered to vote, to get registered. If any member of your family will turn 18 on or before Feb. 22, they can register and vote. And, most importantly, on Election Day get out and vote.

Voting and for whom will be the subject of my columns for the next few weeks. I am a believer that politicians spend their entire time figuring out how to lord over us with politics. Therefore it is imperative that we do back to them what they have been doing to us for decades. And the easiest way to do it is to vote into office those who will serve our needs, and vote out of office those who don't.

XCan Rahm Pick and Choose When He Wants To Be A Resident?

Anyone who reads this column on a consistent basis, or knows me, knows that the period between June 30, of any year and July 15, is one of both joy and dread. Joy because for 15 days, I can take the city sticker off of my car and not risk a ticket. That's because the prior year's sticker expires on June 30 and a new one doesn't have to be displayed until July 15. Now, buying a city sticker is one of those mandatory purchases that a resident of the city of Chicago has to make if they own a car. Unlike the state of Illinois' emission test-which can be postponed or pended because the car wasn't in the area-a city sticker ain't optional.

And paying that $75 dollar pisses me off every year because buying it doesn't guarantee me anything. Not a parking space or a street free of potholes. Not even the ability to be given priority parking privileges at any city-owned venue.

I searched this paper's website to see how many times I wrote about the city stickers. As expected, I found quite a few as far back as 2005. I seemed to always have something to say about that city sticker whenever I wrote about the budget hearings. I've written about the cost of the sticker being so high that for many of Chicago's poor living on minimum wages, the sticker's cost is literally a day's pay.

So imagine my delight in learning that the city sticker is playing a major role in the Chicago Board of Election's hearings concerning whether or not Rahm Emanuel can stay on the ballot to run for mayor.

At first I thought he might take a stance against the city sticker because it causes a major financial burden on a struggling populace. Or that he was going to declare his intentions to slash the cost for the sticker once he became mayor. But instead, a very interesting scenario is playing out. The man who claims to be a Chicago resident after leasing his house to go work in Washington has been exposed for not purchasing a June 2009-10 city sticker. Come again???

After repeatedly telling us how he kept his car registered here he, in fact, didn't pay the $75 bucks-a measly sum for him-for that piece of plastic that sometimes doesn't like to even stick. What gives?

His car is registered here and not in Washington, where the insurance rates are much higher. Nah...somebody who wanted to be mayor wouldn't be trying to pull a fast one over on his car insurance company. Now we are learning that even though the car is registered here at the address he leased out to his tenant, he can't buy a city sticker for it because the car is parked in Washington D.C. Wait a second. Does Rahm Emanuel really think that we are that stupid? Cause right about now, we know that he is a cheapskate.

Rahm is said to be a millionaire several times over. Yet, rather than leave his house empty or allow someone to room in it in exchange for house sitting, Rahm leases the house out while still professing to be a Chicago resident. According to the city clerk's website, this Q&A is the closest I could come to seeing how the issue of the sticker would be addressed:

"My vehicle is registered to another state and I live in the city only a portion of the year. Do I need a vehicle sticker from Chicago also?"

"Yes, you do need to purchase a vehicle sticker. Regardless of where your vehicle is registered, as long as you reside, or your vehicle is principally garaged, within the city limits, you are required to have a vehicle sticker."

Hmmm. The "as long as you reside" portion stuck out to me. The city clerk says that a resident must buy a city sticker. Rahm claims that he is a resident but, yet, didn't buy the sticker. It is quite clear that our mayoral wannabe is already skilled at asking everyone else to do what he feels he doesn't have to do. Is there a question in anyone's mind that he shouldn't have had to buy that city sticker? I mean this is the same city that will boot, tow and demolish your car for unpaid parking tickets and still have you owing for those tickets. I know there has to be people who have been forced to pay for prior years' city stickers when found guilty of having not purchased them.

The rules at the Board of Election are quite clear. A candidate cannot "owe" the city any money when they file to run for office. If we are to take Rahm at his word that he is a resident of the city, then he should have bought the city sticker regardless of the car being in Washington or not. I'm sure that the application for the sticker was sent to him. Seeing that Rahm didn't buy a sticker, he owes the city money, and, therefore, is in violation of the rules and should not be allowed to get on the ballot. At least, that's how I see it.

Let's see what the Board of Election does because there are a number of candidates who are being challenged for owing the city money.

Shop Locally This Christmas

Recently I heard one of the mayoral candidates speak on his campaign platform. One of the things he mentioned was questioning how he could get manufacturers to return to Chicago.

Over the past 30 years, we have lost a number of jobs that were in the manufacturing arena. Jobs like Brach candy, Ecko, Stuart-Warner and a host of others. Many of those jobs went to China as business model after business model joined in the rush to manufacture in China to sell in America. This has led to the phenomena of ships coming into this country loaded with containers full of goods and returning to China empty. We as Americans have embraced those goods and have contributed to our own economic demise by purchasing those items without impunity. Our unwillingness to boycott items made in China has led to job losses and an American economy no longer based on manufacturing.

The current American economy of consuming without producing has already been the reality in the black community for the past 50 years. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that a people who don't produce are doomed. Many of the social problems plaguing the black community will soon be the problems facing the majority community as what goes on in the black community eventually becomes the reality for mainstream America.

What amazed me in listening to the politician speak was that he and his ilk are all responsible for the current state of the economy in this country. Rather than focus on saving jobs, creating new ones and being innovative, they have spent their time on frivolous measures that haven't brought about jobs or a growing economy.

But my column today isn't about critiquing those politicians. Rather as we focus on Christmas and purchasing gifts for that day, where we spend our money is as important as on what we spend our money. There are two types of gifts given for Christmas. One is purchasing items that an individual needs. The other is buying things that the person wants. But no matter the two, as we spend what truly is hard-earned money this Christmas season, trying to buy a Made in America product will be hard but not necessarily impossible.

Thanks to the advances in the internet, finding products that are still made in this country is just a few clicks away. I am grateful for companies like JC Penney catalog and Menards for always highlighting products made in this country. One of the things I am most leery of is food products made in China. Somehow a country with a population of a billion people isn't on my radar as one that can afford to over produce food to send abroad. Manufacturers have gotten wise to people like myself who look to see where items are produced. So they stamp their product with an innocuous label of Made in PRC. That's the People Republic of China for those that don't know.

Lastly, don't overlook doing your Christmas shopping by supporting local business owners and entrepreneurs. There is a new group in Austin that has been promoting that very idea. I attended their event last month and really like the concept. Basically they want to empower women by having us meet, get to know one another, share information, and in my case they supported me by purchasing my book. The name of the group is SOUL SISTA SOUL and they will meet this Saturday Dec. 4 at 4:30 pm at 1732 N. Meade, 2nd Floor. For more information, call Tammie at 773-981-8813.

Poets Wanted

• CALL FOR POETRY: The American Dream: A Juxtaposition
Sunday, February 20, 2011 / 2-4 p.m.
A beautiful country with a history damning and redeeming in turns. A nation where all have opportunity but one percent of the population controls over a third of the wealth. A crucible of Enlightenment democracy that accepted slavery. We ask writers to consider any and all sides of the American dream, e.g. odes, persona pieces, rants, etc. and submit the results.

Selected poets have to be available to read in person. Please send five poems on the theme ALONG WITH a 50 to 75 word bio, IN THE BODY OF AN E-MAIL to gallery@womanmade.org by January 10. We will make every effort to inform those chosen of our decision by January 17 , 2011 .

Read more about poetry events at Woman Made Gallery here: http://womanmade.org/poetry.html

Beate C. Minkovski

Executive Director

Woman Made Gallery

685 N. Milwaukee Ave.

Chicago , IL 60642

www.womanmade.org

Group Exhibitions:
Nov. 5 - Dec. 23, 2010
Reception: Nov. 5 / 6-9pm
Mothers and Girl: Please!
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