While many organizations in the nation are examining the state of black men in America, Wichita has several examples of black men succeeding in the highest levels of government.
Carl Brewer was sworn in today as mayor at the Wichita City Council meeting. He adds to the diversity of local government officials. African-Americans are serving as city manager, assistant city manager, city spokesman, chief of police, assistant county manager and director of the city’s visitors and tourism department.
It’s a line-up that shouldn’t be taken for granted.
The swearing-in comes days before the National Urban League plans to release its State of Black America report, which will focus on the status of black men in America. Sen. and presidential hopeful Barack Obama even wrote the forward to the report, which is set to be released April 17.
“Although many black men are doing well, glaring gaps continue to exist between black men and their white counterparts,” a press release for the report reads. “These gaps are caused and aggravated, in large measure, by the underperformance of a disproportionate number of black men in a variety of areas and for a variety of reasons.”
Want to know how long people are staying married in Kansas, what people in Kansas are dying from or what age group is having more babies out-of-wedlock?
Don’t look to the gossip columns. Look to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, which released its 2005 Summary of Kansas Vital Statistics Tuesday. It’s the most up-to-date information on Kansas birth, deaths and marriages available from the state agency.
Among other interesting facts:
- Kansans are continuing to delay marriage.
- Slightly over half of the Kansans seeking abortions were 15 to 24.
- The black infant death rate continues to be over two times higher than the rate for whites.
For the inside scoop, see the PDF report here.
This weekend, the Rev. Terry Fox, a vocal gambling critic, announced that his church has purchased one acre of land in the heart of what could become a gambling hot-spot.
Summit church plans to build in the commercial development district at Wild West World Amusement Park. The Park City property sets across the street from the Wichita Greyhound Park where a new bill would allow slot machines to be installed. The bill also allows destination casinos in four areas of the state – in either Sedgwick or Sumner Co., Ford County, Wyandotte County and either Cherokee or Crawford County. Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has promised to sign the bill into law.
Fox said Summit Church is now in a prime position to minister to people with gambling addictions.
“We want to be a church that – rather than criticizing and complaining – will be here to help people,” said Fox, who added that the church could break ground before this year ends.
Read more about the church’s plans in Monday’s Eagle.
Want to see Earth, Wind & Fire on Saturday, but your money is funny and your change is strange?
Don’t fret, you’ve got people. No, not H&R Block, but organizers of the Downing Concert Series, who have made more $35 tickets available.
Talk about a discount.
And if you paid more for your Kansas Coliseum seat, there’s no need to complain. Every dollar raised through ticket sales from the concert, a pre-party and gala dinner will benefit the Center for Health and Wellness, the Boys and Girls Clubs of South-Central Kansas and The Opportunity Project school. These are organizations that are investing in children and healthcare in our community.
Now that’s worth singing about.
Catch Friday’s Eagle for more information or visit www.downingfoundation.org.
Club Patrone, near 21st and Woodlawn, got true VIP treatment when state Sen. Donald Betts, Jr. showed up on Friday to celebrate his 29th birthday.
Betts, in his suit and tie, was unafraid to hit the dance floor and remind people that he can still “party walk” with his Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity brothers by his side.
Then, on Saturday, Betts was back to business as the host of his second annual town hall meeting, which drew more than 150 people at WSU’s Hughes Metropolitan Complex. The meeting lasted more than three hours and gave community members a chance to meet with other black lawmakers such as Melody McCray-Miller, Oletha Faust-Goudeau, Kansas African American Affairs Commission director, Danielle Dempsey-Swopes and Roderick Bremby, with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, among others.
s Kevin Myles the new Chet Lewis?
At least one Eagle reader seems to think so, saying in a posting on Thursday at Kansas.com: “The NAACP has finally been graced with an assertive and functional leader who is capable of attacking and dealing with issues at hand and as they present themselves. I don’t think we’ve seen this kind of leadership since Chet Lewis.”
For those who need a refresher course: Chet (Chester) Lewis was the NAACP attorney whose lawsuits filed during the 1950s and 1960s struck down segregation in public accommodations and forced the local school district to integrate its all-black elementary and junior high schools and approved. During Lewis’s branch presidency, the NAACP’s youth chapter conducted what is now thought to be the first youth-led lunch counter sit-in at Dockum Drug, which struck down segregation at all Rexall Drug stores in Kansas and Dockum locations in Wichita. He is the namesake of Lewis Elementary school and the newly-renamed Chester I. Lewis Reflection Square Park, which features a replica of the Dockum lunch counter near Broadway and Douglas.
The NAACP is currently working to outlaw the sell of drug paraphernalia in Kansas, among other initiatives involving workers’ rights and closing the academic achievement gap between minority and white students.
State Senator Donald Betts, Jr. – D, Wichita – has quite the world view.
He’s making headlines by addressing Iraq. He wants lawmakers to pass a resolution that would put the state Legislature on record as opposing the Bush administration’s plan to commit 21,500 additional troops to the Iraq war.
Betts said on Thursday that, his attention – and his plans – will turn to Sudan. He mentioned an announcement, the Kansas retirement system for state employees and the conflict that has garnered worldwide attention, driven mostly by MTV and BET campaigns.
Confused? Betts said he plans to clear things up as soon as Friday.
If anybody can turn an annual business meeting into a church service, it’s Brian Black, president and chief executive of the Urban League of Kansas.
On Monday, during the league’s meeting at Botanica that drew more than 300 people, Black used Psalms 23, “The Lord is My Shepherd,” to illustrate the tougher times he’s experienced in his attempts to guide the league in moving more people to the economic mainstream.
Black said there were times he felt like he’s walked through the “valley of the shadow of death” alone. But all he needed to do, he said, was to pause, look around and see that he wasn’t alone. Surrounding him were other nonprofit organizations and business people who he’s since joined hands with. Now they’re walking together, supporting and promoting one another’s mission.
To this, Black received a rousing round of applause and hearty “Amens.”