www.michronicle.com VOLUME 73 – Number 52★★ mayor dies


Former Pontiac


Clarence Phillips, who


served as mayor of Pontiac from 2005 to 2009, died Sept. 1. He was 69. Phillips also served as a member of the Pon- tiac City Council from 1990 to 2000, four of them as council president.


Prior to being elected


mayor, Phillips also served for three terms in the State House of Representatives.


The lifelong Pontiac resi-


dent and Pontiac Central High School graduate served four years in the Air Force. He received degrees in second- ary education and sociology from Oakland University, and taught for 25 years in the Oak Park School District before going into politics.


He is survived by his wife,


Lorene; sons, Kaino, Anthony Howard and Damani; and a grandchild.


Services were held Wednes-


day at Providence Missionary Baptist Church in Pontiac. Ar- rangements were handled by Swanson Funeral Home.


Wayne County Sheriff’s Youth and Senior Fund Golf Outing


The Wayne County Sheriff


Youth and Senior Education Fund provides a wide range of educational and safety items, as well a host and sponsor programs and events geared toward youth and seniors across the county.


The Sept. 20 golf outing —


the 20th annual — is the only fundraising event.


It will take place at Warren Valley Golf Course, 26116 W. Warren in Dearborn Heights.


Call (800) 639-5910 for more information.


Applications now accepted for Jesse


Jackson scholarhip Rainbow PUSH Detroit


Bureau and General Motors are urging students to apply a for a $2,500 scholarship Sept. 29. Visit www.rainbowpush.org or call (313) 842-3883 to find out how to apply for the scholar- ship. The deadline to submit applications is Sept. 17. Ten scholarships will be presented to needy and deserving stu- dents by Rev. Jesse Jackson and General Motors during the 11th Anual Automotive Summit Sept. 29-Oct. 1 at the Motor City Casino Hotel.


WHAT’S INSIDE


Katrina’s legacy still painful five years after (A-3) While driving through the


Lower Ninth Ward of the city, visitors might be shocked to see that most of it still looks the same as it did when the floodwaters of Hurricane Ka- trina struck five years ago.


Educators claim Black boys are set up to fail (A-3)


A coalition of African-Ameri- cans educators say the nation’s public school system is giving up on Black male students and setting them up to fail


Parents must reject the whitewashing of history (A-6) It’s important for black par-


ents and Black communities to rear children whose sense of history and pride is strong.


At the premiere


www.michronicle.com 6 89076 06419 4


The MGM Grand Detroit was the setting for the premiere of the new televi- sion program airing on ABC, “Detroit 1-8-7.” From left are three of the stars, James McDaniel, Aisha Hinds and Jon Michael Hill. More pictures from the event on page A-4. —Andre Smith photo


Bankole Thompson September 8-14, 2010 479 Ledyard • Detroit MI 48201 313.963.5522 $1.00


Gubernatorial election shows influence of labor movement


By Bankole Thompson CHRONICLE SENIOR EDITOR


The writing on the wall is clear and the


cracks can now be seen on the ceiling for the labor movement.


What is supposed to be a politically uni-


fied party is now starting to divide itself as evidenced by the Carpenters Union standing side-by-side with Republican flag bearer Rick Snyder.


COMMENTARY This election is


either a test of the growing or waning influence of the labor movement in Michi- gan.


Every candidate


on the Democratic ticket had to be ap- proved by labor, meaning that all can-


didates are darlings of the movement that once safeguarded middle class families from the excesses of corporate abuse and power.


Thanks to labor, the kinds of abuses of


workers that were rampant during the indus- trial revolution were halted with the emer- gence of labor groups like the United Auto Workers, AFL-CIO and others.


For decades labor has sought to address


social equity within the context of socio-eco- nomic development, believing that when you invest in the worker, it makes for transforma- tion of both the business and community.


The business grows and the worker is


happy that there is dignity in labor with the respect accorded in the workplace because someone is holding the feet of corporate bosses to the fire.


In fact, the candidates who refused to ac-


knowledge or seek the endorsement of orga- nized labor were shown the door to leave the Democratic camp.


Those candidates who dared to challenge


the legitimacy of labor by ignoring the de- mands of the movement lacked enough votes to capture the Democratic nomination.


As one insider told me, “When you crush


labor you pay a high price” — something that is not new and should be known by anyone who is not politically naïve.


Labor made Lansing mayor Virg Bernero


the Democratic nominee for governor be- cause of an unforgivable sin supposedly committed by House Speaker Andy Dillon.


When Dillon proposed overhauling the


state’s health care pension system, it was seen as a dig into union groups, not an al- ternative way of restructuring the financial system of state government.


And so even as Dillon went on to cam-


paign with his supporters thinking they had locked in the nomination backed by his huge campaign war chest, for labor it was still a long shot for the House speaker. They vowed to destroy his chances of becoming governor, and they did just that.


Added to that conundrum is Dillon’s self- defeatist position of being against abortion,


CONGRESSMAN JOHN CONYERS was among the dignitaries partici- pating in the Labor Day parade.


PICTURED AT the Labor Day parade are (from left) Jimmy Settles, UAW vice presi- dent; Bob King, UAW president; Rev. Wendell Anthony, Detroit Branch NAACP president; and Mark Gaffney, Michigan AFL-CIO president. —Monica Morgan photos


another unforgivable sin female Democrats would not tolerate in their camp, especially for one run- ning for governor.


What did Bernero do? His campaign was a tribute


to the labor movement. He went around paying homage to the UAW and other union groups for stand- ing up for “the little guy.”


Even at this year’s gathering of


the state’s economic, business, po- litical and media elites at Mackinac Island, Bernero repeated his praise of labor and never backed off.


For some on the island it was


seen as odd, but for Bernero and his cadre of supporters it was the right thing to do — look into the face of the corporate community and tell them that labor has provid- ed that safety net for families they otherwise would have ignored.


See LABOR MOVEMENT page A-4


Leaders to push education to center of governor’s race


There has been little conversation about education in


the governor’s race between Republican Rick Snyder and Democrat Virg Bernero.


But that is expected to change Sept. 30 from 4 to 5:30


p.m. at the University of Michigan-Dearborn when some of the state’s leading education advocates put the education crisis before the gubernatorial candidates.


Education and business go hand-in-hand and Michigan


cannot expect a sound economy without sound education policy that empowers tomorrow’s leaders, observers are saying.


“Michigan’s Education Crisis: Issues of the Next Gover-


nor” is the title of a forum featuring Carol Goss, president of The Skillman Foundation; Reginald Turner, member of the State Board of Education; Curtis Ivery, chancellor, Wayne County Community College; Tom Watkins, former Michigan superintendent of education; and Daniel Little, chancellor, UM-Dearborn.


Bankole Thompson, Chronicle senior editor, will mod-


erate the forum at UM-Dearborn Fairlane Center North – Quad E. Admission is free.


The forum part of UM-Dearborn’s “Issues in Diversity and


Social Change” lecture series will mark the first construc- tive discussion around education since the governor’s race began taking shape.


For more information, contact Ann Lampkin-Williams at annlwms@umd.umich.edu.


Tom Watkins Reggie Turner Daniel Little Carol Goss Labor’s LAST Stand?


Curtis Ivery


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32