Congressman Davis gets the support POLITICS AS USUALThe Coalition to Select a Damn MayorRespect the process was the theme word for this three month search to identify and provide the Black community, and the entire city with a viable candidate to compete for the 5th floor at City Hall. The tiresome process took its toll on many of the people who participated. And I must confess, now that the decision has been made to introduce Congressman Danny Davis, that I was a part of the selection committee. I was among 65 different elected officials, business people, community groups and activists, and my organization NextGenerationLeadershipCouncil was chosen to share in this heart wrenching, but necessary experience. I felt it was not in the interest of the PROCESS to expose that I was involved with the coalition to elect a Black mayoral candidate. Now the process has concluded, and man let me tell you, this was not worth my time. Even though I enjoyed seeing how this newly formed process was established and orchestrated, and being in the room with people who I've admired and respected for years was a treat. But there was also Negroes I would not want to be in fox hole with me for any apparent reason. I don't care if we're the only people in the hole, and our combined efforts were the only way to escape, wouldn't trust them folks with my unborn child. They kept up mess from day one. They're the people I described in yesterday's edition, of older people who just want to be in the lane, even though they know the lane has stopped and will never, ever move again. It's sad, but it's the harsh realities of life in the slow moving lane. They think they're still the man - if they ever were. And most know they're not, but people try and appease them because at one point, they may have been relevant. These people are disrespectful and unruly, and think they have ALL the answers. And I'll give it to them, they had a few valid points to help move the process alone. Then there were people who openly showed their colors, and their bright and blinding views were totally not in conjunction with the majority of the Black Caucus Committee. They were just waiting to see how, or who they could best benefit from behind closed doors. They voiced one opinion today, hoping to be coerced, or bought to change their colors tomorrow. I'm so damn glad this mess is over, and if I never see a few of those people ever again, it'll be too soon. I made some great connections with a few people I'm sure will prosper. And I enjoyed seeing how some aspect of organized government functions, because the Black caucus presented the same format used in city council. So whenever the stalled moving lane people didn't disrupt the process, it flowed neatly. I'll participate in a process like these again, but it has to be with a more serious group of non-bias people. I admit, I had my choice for mayor and he was Larry Rogers, Jr., but I was not stuck on him if he didn't get the legitimate support he deserved. And when he stepped out and decided to move on, it was cool with our entire team. Today, Danny Davis is the consensus candidate chosen by the coalition, but there's a few other groups looking to anoint someone. I plan to support the single Democratic (Black, white or Hispanic) candidate chosen to lead the city of Chicago into a new frontier of jobs, wealth building, shared power and constructive influences. All these elements will assure changes in the conditions of every neighborhood and communities within a city stuck in the slow moving lane. NextGenerationLeadershipCouncil will host aldermanic forums with incumbents and their challengers starting in December. The forums are scheduled in each ward to discuss issues relevant to communities. Presented by TBTNewsService.com & Mazjac Enterprise. For participation, call 312.980.2681 or forward message to midwestgap@yahoo.com. C/ Dwayne West - Co-founder/Chairman: NextGenerationLeadershipCouncil (NGLC) Co-founder/President: Maze Jackson/MazJac Enterprises |
EDITORS -- The more details are exposed that this "consensus" process loses more credibility with each day yet there is this frenzy to keep trying to make it appear that there is really a united front from the community behind Congressman Danny Davis and it creates more apathy among ordinary voters that we should be trying to motivate. This is a bad day for Black leadership in Chicago, but our "next generation" leaders are going to have to step up when its clear that many of our Black elder leaders can't get away from "politics as usual" and actually make some sound judgement to move our people forward. But from experience to other next generation Black leaders is that sometimes the young leaders have to be bold enough to respectively challenge our elder Black leaders, especially when you are trying to make them see that yoiu are actually trying to do what they taught you to do in a time like this, when they are not even following their own poltical education teachings. We need to take a page from The Hispanics in how they came to convince Congressman Gutierrez the importance of maintaining the power base he has created in Congress and why he needed to stay in Congress, yet Black leaders are about to jockey the seniority built in the State by Rev. Meeks, and in Congress by Danny Davis when they dont have to. If Senator Carol Moseley Braun was the frontrunner two weeks ago, she should be the frontrunner today, but you can read The Sun Times Mary Mitchell's column on how our elder Black leaders used their personal problems to create new criteria to reverse Braun's frintrunner status, but there is still time to correct that to, if real leadership takes place over personality and selfish ego driven criteria.
Mark S. Allen
Founder/President
The Black Leadership Development Institute, BLDI
773-392-0165
In any group there will be one or two ego-tripping people, who are disruptive. This group was no exception, except there were, from my experience, not as many - and as a whole the group was unified. Because of the size of the group, Roberts Rules of Order was used in order to keep some semblance of order. The people ranged in age from very young to elderly and in-between, so it was not a "group of old people" as this person depicted. It seems as though Carl West had a problem with one or two particular people, which doesn't seem like that should be the basis upon which to denigrate an entire group or that group's process or intentions. Carol Mosely Braun could not have ever been the previous "frontrunner" because a vote was never, ever taken by the entire body on the four final candidates until November 5, 2010 - at which time, by SECRET BALLOT, Congressman Danny Davis was elected to represent the group as its consensus candidate. The names of all four candidates, including Carol Mosely Braun, were on the ballot. Just curious - did Mr. West voice his concerns while in the group? I don't recall that happening, but it may have happened in a meeting I missed.
Thank you for your comments: I think that the problem with the committee was that far too many people on the committee were releasing "unofficial" reports that were picked up and ran in the local and national media and never promptly responding with accurate information, so at this pont it is hard to try and convince me that the headline were wrong when the press reported that Larry Rogers and Carol Braun were the two finalists of an original four finalists. And then ALderman Burnett and Senator Hendon gave media reports that explained how Braun was the frontrunner and then a new vote was taken to punish Braun for her manager choice. And then today, The Sun Times Mary Mitchell was given the same reports, and AGAIN no public challenge to Mitchell's column today saying that Blacks on the committe couldnt get it together.
Who is Carl West and what has he done ?