This blog seeks changes at the NEIGHBORHOOD-LEVEL by a Call for transparency and accountability of ALL who are elected-appointed-volunteered and hired. WE encourage Citizen-Centered engagement, leadership and decision making. We value Principle-Centered Leadership that practices day-to-day Code of Conduct to maximize all government spending, respectful of civil-human-legal rights. It was created on June 3, 2010, with the thought that if I want it to be, it starts and end with me.
MAY 31, 2017 MILWAUKEE-MADISON-RACINE-KENOSHA-WAUKESHA | In southeastern Wisconsin, the 5 cities above have about 90 per cent of the African American population according to Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
Open Letter
May 31, 2017 to JOE DONOVAN - Candidate for WI Dem Chair ERIC FINCH - Candidate for WI Dem Chair BRYAN KENNEDY - Candidate for WI Dem Chair MARTHA LANING - Candidate for WI Dem Chair from MARY GLASS - Concerned Milwaukeean Milwaukee Professionals Association LLC Indivisible - Milwaukee (The Hub) re Inclusion of African Americans in WI Democratic Party Operation, Management and Administration and Black Women Demand Support, send Open Letter to DNC Tom Perez Lady and Gentlemen:
"We,MPA LLC & Indivisible - Milwaukee (The Hub), subscribe to the measured/steady and right-on statements within the Open Letter. Further, know that the lack ofInclusion of African Americans is a biggie in Wisconsin. Therefore, my office calls for an immediateprima faciechange right-from-the gate to show the necessary change that allows cross-pollination of African Americans in the operation and administration by the WI Democratic Chair and WI Democratic National Officer that is elected during the June 2-3, 2017 convention", Mary Glass, CVO.
==================
Like the 31 African American women who signed on to the Open Letter to National DNC Chair Tom Perez, May 25, 2017, African Americans are not broad-based and taken for granted for their loyality at the BALLOT Box. And, due to the growing perception that the DEMs, just like the GOPs, have failed to incorporate in each layer of the parties positions held by African American and to address vital quality of life and economic development issues.
We feel that the presence of African Americans as a VALUED VOTER does much to the "prima facie"/image of the party's interest at the operation, management and administration of the Democratic Party. It also allows Inspiration and aspiration.
If the prima facie/image is INCLUSIVE (cross-pollination) and committed to with hands-on implementation of the Wisconsin Democratic Party; it will extend to the offices of the elected-appointed-hired and donor-for-hire members and associates that subscribe to the Democratic platform.
To have a staff pool devoid of African Americans (one person) is shameful and unacceptable.
To refuse to respond to inquiries is unacceptable - WI Dem Party and federal-state-local elected officers.
To continue to resort to cronyism, beehives, silos and rabbit holes that are race-based and exclude African Americans is what we have and it is a "loser"given the rhetoric, terrain and the competition.
Outreach
Your past outreach plan has been "last-minute", "haphazard", "lacking from-the-jump off plan for inclusion" and "lacking in election offices". It has operated at the 30,000 feet level and brought zero innovation, non-support of legislation that address quality of life and economic development, i.e., Incarceration, gainful employment, affordable housing, affordable health care in the neighborhood, technology attainment, in-the-neighborhood development for sustainability with neighborhood fingerprint and demanding Oath of Office by every Democrat.
Right now, how many of you have talked about the Mass Incarceration and Enduring Concentrated Poverty weight on urban families? How many of you have Incarceration as part of your winning strategy to recruit, entice, persuade potential African American voters - women and men for THIS campaign?
Khary Penebaker - Business Owner/Candidate WI DNC Officer
MAY 31, 2017
MADISON, WI | Concerned citizen, Khary Penebaker will drive to Madison and be one of those Wisconsinites to speak out at today's hearing against proposed legislation that would allow people in Wisconsin to carry concealed firearms without getting training or state permits. The legislation was unveiled Tuesday by more than three dozen Republican lawmakers.
We thank citizen Penebaker for his citizenship engagement and wish him a successful trip to/from Madison.
l-r; Sen. David Craig, R-Vernon and Rep. Mary Felzkowski, R-Irma
“If you decide to carry a weapon to protect yourself or your family, you should be able to do so easily — without bureaucratic hurdles and without cost,” Craig said in a statement.
MONDAY, May 29, 2017 It is our Day to remember the women and men who have given their lives in military affairs for the banner of the USA. The Honored Dead
One of the earliest commemorations was organized by recently freed slaves.
As the Civil War neared its end, thousands of Union soldiers, held as prisoners of war, were herded into a series of hastily assembled camps in Charleston, South Carolina. Conditions at one camp, a former racetrack near the city’s Citadel, were so bad that more than 250 prisoners died from disease or exposure, and were buried in a mass grave behind the track’s grandstand. Three weeks after the Confederate surrender, an unusual procession entered the former camp: On May 1, 1865, more than 1,000 recently freed slaves, accompanied by regiments of the U.S. Colored Troops (including the Massachusetts 54th Infantry) and a handful of white Charlestonians, gathered in the camp to consecrate a new, proper burial site for the Union dead. The group sang hymns, gave readings and distributed flowers around the cemetery, which they dedicated to the “Martyrs of the Race Course.” HISTORY CHANNEL
===============
Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States for remembering the people who died while serving in the country's armed forces. The holiday, which is currently observed every year on the last Monday of May, originated as Decoration Day after the American Civil War in 1868, when the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Union veterans founded in Decatur, Illinois, established it as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the Union war dead with flowers. By the 20th century, competing Union and Confederate holiday traditions, celebrated on different days, had merged, and Memorial Day eventually extended to honor all Americans who died while in the military service. It marks the start of the unofficial summer vacation season, while Labor Day marks its end.
Many people visit cemeteries and memorials, particularly to honor those who have died in military service. Many volunteers place an American flag on each grave in national cemeteries. Wikipedia
MAY 18, 2017 MARYLAND| Baltimore-area renters complain about a property owner they say is neglectful and litigious. Few know their landlord is the president’s son-in-law.
Thanks to ALEC MacGILLIS/PROPUBLICA
Read about the shyster-like real estate behavior of JK2 - Jared Kushner.
The word Ramadan comes from the Arabic root ramiḍa or ar-ramaḍ, which means scorching heat or dryness. Fasting is fardh (obligatory) for adult Muslims, except those who are suffering from an illness, travelling, are elderly, pregnant, breastfeeding, diabetic, chronically ill or going through menstrual bleeding. Fasting the month of Ramadan was made obligatory (wājib) during the month of Sha'ban, in the second year after the Muslims migrated from Mecca to Medina. Fatwas have been issued declaring that Muslims who live in regions with a natural phenomenon such as the midnight sun or polar night should follow the timetable of Mecca, but the more commonly accepted opinion is that Muslims in those areas should follow the timetable of the closest country to them in which night can be distinguished from day.
While fasting from dawn until sunset, Muslims refrain from consuming food, drinking liquids, smoking, and engaging in sexual relations. Muslims are also instructed to refrain from sinful behavior that may negate the reward of fasting, such as false speech (insulting, backbiting, cursing, lying, etc.) and fighting. Food and drinks are served daily, before dawn and after sunset, referred to as Suhoor and Iftar respectively. Spiritual rewards (thawab) for fasting are also believed to be multiplied within the month of Ramadan. Fasting for Muslims during Ramadan typically includes the increased offering of salat (prayers), recitation of the Quranand an increase of doing good deeds and charity. Wikipedia
USA |On May 25, 2017, women listed in this article (list below) sent an Open Letter to Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez with a "lack of INclusion" message of African American women across the board in the Democratic Party.
"We,MPA LLC & Indivisible - Milwaukee (The Hub), subscribe to the measured/steady and right-on statements within the Open Letter. Further, know that the lack ofInclusion of African Americans is a biggie in Wisconsin. Therefore, my office calls for an immediateprima faciechange right-from-the gate to show the necessary change that allows cross-pollination of African Americans in the operation and administration by the WI Democratic Chair and WI Democratic National Officer that is elected during the June 2-3, 2017 convention", Mary Glass, CVO.
Below is the Open Letter to Chair Perez.
==================
"We respectfully request that you convene a meeting with Black women leaders and activists where you can hear not only our concerns, but also our thoughts on how the DNC can invest in Black women's engagement and leadership moving forward from hiring of key staff and consultants to investment in training and leadership opportunities". - 31 women - see below
====================
Today Black women activists, civic and community leaders, and elected officials penned an open letter to Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez calling for a meeting to discuss the state of Black women and the Party.
Dear Chairman Tom Perez:
Black women have consistently shown up for Democrats as a loyal voting bloc, demonstrating time and again that we are crucial to the protection of progressive policies such as economic security, affordable healthcare and criminal justice reform.
We have voted and organized our communities with little support or investment from the Democratic Party for voter mobilization efforts. We have shown how Black women lead, yet the Party's leadership from Washington to the state parties have few or no Black women in leadership. More and more, Black women are running for office and winning elections — with scant support from Democratic Party infrastructure.
Well, like civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer, who testified at the 1964 Democratic convention demanding Blacks have a seat and voice within the Party, we are "sick and tired of being sick and tired."
The Democratic Party has a real problem. The data reveals that Black women voters are the very foundation to a winning coalition, yet most Black voters feel like the Democrats take them for granted. The Party's foundation has a growing crack and if it is not addressed quickly, the Party will fall even further behind and ultimately fail in its quest to strengthen its political prospects.
Investing in Black women's political leadership is a solid return on investment, one that is rooted in facts and data. In recent years, Black women have proven to be the most active voting demographic in the nation. In 2008 and 2012, 70 percent of eligible Black women cast ballots, accounting for the highest voter turnout of any racial or gender group, proving that our voting power can and has determined elections. A closer look at the data shows that in 2012 Barack Obama won re-election by 4.9 million votes.
Black women cast a total of 11.4 million ballots, providing the margin he needed to win. This past November, even with a clear lack of voter mobilization investment and a decrease in overall Black voter turnout, 94 percent of Black women voted to keep this country moving forward by casting ballots for Hillary Clinton. In addition, on November 8th we saw important elected-office gains by Black women despite the otherwise dismal defeat of progressives during the general election.
The 115th Congress has 20 Black women—the largest number in history. The group includes Kamala Harris, who is the second Black woman to serve in the U.S. Senate, a body that has not had a Black woman's voice in 20 years. In addition, Lisa Blunt Rochester became the first woman and Black person to represent Delaware in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Black women also made important progressive wins in Minnesota, where IIhan Omar became the first Somali-American Muslim elected to the state legislature; Kentucky, where Attica Scott became the first woman elected to the state legislature in 20 years; Cook County IL, where Kim Foxx was elected state's attorney; Orange County FL elected Aramis Ayala the first Black state's attorney in the Florida's history; the state of Texas elected its first woman Sheriff, Zena Stephens; and Jefferson County, AL elected nine Black women to the judicial branch.
This February, in the DNC elections, we saw an increase in overall diversity within the officer ranks, but no increase in leadership representation of Black women. Since taking office, you have met with and listened to key constituencies. But you have yet to host a Black women leaders convening.
Organizing without the engagement of Black women will prove to be a losing strategy, and there is much too much at stake for the Democratic Party to ignore Black women. Following your recent announcement of your top staff hire, we are left with significant concerns about how the Party is developing its strategies and allocating its resources. In the absence of our inclusion in discussions about the Party's forward movement, we question whether the Party values our loyalty and takes our commitment seriously.
In this termed "movement building moment," how will you lead the Democrats forward? Will Black women be among those at the helm, helping to design the strategies, craft the message, mobilize troops, and lead the way - as policymakers, political strategists, activists, and elected officials?
We respectfully request that you convene a meeting with Black women leaders and activists where you can hear not only our concerns, but also our thoughts on how the DNC can invest in Black women's engagement and leadership moving forward from hiring of key staff and consultants to investment in training and leadership opportunities.
The time is now for progressive power brokers and the very Party that we have carried on our back to the voting booth, year in and year out, to make a sustained and substantial investment in our leadership and priorities.
We have demonstrated our commitment to the Party. It is time for the Party to demonstrate its commitment to us. We stand ready to join you, your team, and Party leadership on the front lines — but not as silent partners.
In service,
Anita Estell
Avis A. Jones-DeWeever, Ph.D. - Founder, Exceptional Leadership Institute for Women
Carol McDonald
Christina M. Greer, PhD
Dana Vickers Shelley
Glynda Carr - Co-Founder, Higher Heights for America
Kimberly Peeler-Allen - Co-Founder, Higher Heights for America
Khalilah Brown-Dean, PhD
L. Joy Williams
Marcela E. Howell
Melanie L. Campbell
Nakisha M. Lewis - Co-Founder #SheWoke Committee
Roslyn M. Brock - Chairman Emeritus, NAACP
Star Jones
Sydney Kamlager-Dove - Vice President, Los Angeles Community College District
May 25, 2017 Public Policy w/Mary Glass & Company Welcomes Antonia Vann - ASHA Project and Gaulien "Gee" Smith - Gee's Clippers as its Entrepreneurs for this week.
ASHA Project, 3719 W. Center Street, recently underwent a name change. It was known as ASHA Family Services.
Gee's Clippers expanded to 26 barbers and 4 stylists at its new location, 2200 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Drive - a historic bank building on the corner of Garfield Avenue and Dr. ML. King Drive.
CLICK PHOTO TO ENLARGE
Join them for all the NEW developments of the two progressive an inspirational businesses that have provided over 20 years each of customer service in Milwaukee.
==================
WXRW LP Riverwest Talk Radio 104.1 FM or riverwestradio.com 3:30pm-4:30pm Friday, May 26, 2017
U.S. stock futures were higher this morning after the S&P 500 closed at a record high on Wednesday. The S&P, Dow, and Nasdaq were all coming off five session winning streaks. (CNBC)
Oil prices were under pressure this morning after a weaker than expected cut in production from OPEC at today's meeting. (CNBC)
Best Buy (BBY) shares were surging in premarket trading after the electronics retailer reported this morning quarterly earnings and revenue that beat expectations. (CNBC)
Sears (SHLD) shares were sharply higher in the premarket after the struggling retailer this morning reported a narrower-than-expected loss. Revenue also exceed estimates. (CNBC)
Bitcoin continued its recent surge, hitting new record highs this morning. The cryptocurrency crossed the $2,500 level on Wednesday after a "scaling agreement" was announced. (CNBC)
With an interest rate hike looking likely at the Fed's June meeting, minutes from the May gathering revealed that central bankers set a process to wind down their $4.5 trillion balance sheet. (CNBC)
Fed Gov. Lael Brainard speaks in Washington at 10 a.m. ET. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard speaks in Tokyo at 10 p.m. ET.
But before the Fed speeches, weekly jobless claims and April advanced leading indicators are out at 8:30 a.m. ET.
IN THE NEWS TODAY
President Donald Trump was meeting this morning with European Union leaders in Brussels, a city he once called a "hellhole." Later today, he meets with members of NATO, an alliance he once called 'obsolete." (CNBC)
Sen. Rand Paul, who unsuccessfully ran for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016, is looking to block a key portion of a Saudi arms deal that was announced on Saturday when Trump was visiting the kingdom. (CNBC)
The CBO score of the health-care bill passed by House Republicans earlier this month would result in 23 million fewer Americans with insurance by 2026 than under Obamacare. (The Washington Post)
American spies reportedly collected information last summer revealing senior Russian intelligence and political officials had discussed how to exert influence over Trump through his advisors. (NY Times)
The U.K. has reportedly decided to stop sharing intelligence about the Manchester terrorist bombing with the United States following a series of leaks that British authorities called damaging to the investigation. (BBC News)
The GOP candidate in today's hotly contested special House election in Montana was charged with assaulting a journalist. The reporter from The Guardian said he was "body slammed" by the politician. (NY Times)
The TSA is testing tighter screening of carry-on bags at 10 airports, with the potential to expand the new procedures. The extra screening targets electronics larger than a cellphone for X-ray screening. (CNBC)
As an estimated 39 million Americans prepare to hit the road for Memorial Day weekend, a new report paints a sobering picture of which vehicles have the worst track records for drivers being killed in accidents. (CNBC)
A new study by a worker advocacy group said Tesla (TSLA) saw higher-than-average injury rates at its electric auto plant in 2015. Tesla said it's made changes and now has "the lowest injury rate in the industry." (USA Today)
Two of the world's largest asset managers, BlackRock (BLK) and Vanguard, are strongly considering a public rebuke to Exxon Mobil over climate change at the company's annual meeting next week. (WSJ)
Harley-Davidson (HOG) plans to build a plant in Thailand to serve the Southeast Asian market. The move would help the company avoid Thailand tariffs of up to 60 percent imposed on imported motorcycles. (CNBC)
Facebook (FB) has signed deals with Vox Media, BuzzFeed and others to make shows for its upcoming video service, which will feature long and short-form content with commercial breaks. (Fortune)
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg delivers the commencement address this afternoon at Harvard University. On Tuesday, the Harvard dropout visited his old dorm, where he started the social network in 2004. (Daily Mail)
