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By Simone Lightfoot The weeks leading up to election 2010


were exhausting. From reviewing and ap- proving family absentee ballots, to reminding our church congregation about the need to vote. There was Get Out The Vote (GOTV) training in Muskegon, an American Asso- ciation of University Women (AAUW) key- note address in Jack- son, and speaking to physicians with the American Osteopath- ic College of Occupa- tional and Preventive Medicine during open- ing day of the World Series in San Fran- cisco. Not to men- tion the political con- versations, strategy sessions and debates pertaining to urban cities across the Great Lakes region. Cities like Cleveland, Detroit, Cincinnati, Milwaukee and Chicago whose politics are key to our re- gions revitalization.


Simone Lightfoot No matter the city or state, attack ads, par-


tisan sensationalism, campaign promises and over-the-top accusations have, yet again, in large part defined the electoral season. Refer- ences — let alone solutions — pertaining to urban green were basically nonexistent.


Just as public policy often ignores places at


its peril, public policy makers up for election through out the Great Lakes region barely men- tioned urban vitality, agriculture and farming, surplus land reuse, alternative energy, oil spills or the impact of climate change. No big push for things like recycling and reuse, smaller but stronger cities, regeneration efforts, preserving viable residential neighborhoods or green uses for vacant lands and buildings. Mum was the word, but why?


Well, consider several factors. First, al-


though urban areas are widely recognized as the engines of prosperity and essential to the Great Lakes region’s renewed relevance, to date catchy green talking points and campaign slogans have not proven appealing. Secondly, the urban electorate and voter turnout during off-year elections play a major role in what po- litical campaigns focus on — or not.


Then there are those in politics who view


green advocates as tree huggers that lack di- versity. In other words, not quite the political mainstream. Conversations behind the scenes revealed that many state and federal candidates view urban sustainability as a local issue (city, township, village, etc.) and are not clear about the local implications of climate change.


So, what does our region’s older industrial


metropolitan areas do now? Having served both as an advocate protesting for change and then on the other side as an elected official, the sug- gestion would be a “both and” not an “either/ or” approach.


Sustainability and climate change advocates Hope It’s a two month process for


getting kids into the program and they have to meet three criteria. The first concerns academics. Boys Hope Girls Hope takes children whose basic skills may be lacking, but who are able to do the work of a Marian or a U of D Jesuit student. Students must also maintain a 3.0 grade point average.


“If you go to these schools,


you have to want to be there and to do well,” Thomas said, adding that while some of the kids come from great difficul- ties, they want to do well, and so they do well. She also said Boys Hope Girls Hope works with the students to get to and maintain a 3.0 GPA.


Second, students need to


be motivated. Thomas said the program is highly structured.


Third, Boys Hope Girls


Hope looks at behavioral issues and personalities to see if it’s the right program for a particular individual. She said she wishes all kids under- stood they are privileged to be there, because the organiza- tion doesn’t take everyone, as much as she wishes it could.


The cost? Parents pay $50 a


month. And if they can’t afford that, Boys Hope Girls Hope sets up a plan for them to pay what they can afford.


The partner schools work


with Boys Hope Girls Hope to get participating students where they need to be in their educational trajectories.


As an example, she cited


the case of a girl attending a public high school who came into the program as a junior. This girl had the academic


ability to go to Marian High School which worked with Boys Hope Girls Hope to get her into the school.


The girl had always been


a good student, and Marian — which doesn’t take just anyone — saw her potential right away. Boys Hope Girls Hope doesn’t usually ask ju- niors to come into the pro- gram, unless they’re really fo- cused on education.


The girl, whose family cir-


cumstances were such that she had been in five different homes in the last two years, needed stability.


“That’s what we were able


to give her,” she said. Families participating in


the program come from vari- ous environments. Some of the students may be in loving homes, but their families are dealing with such issues as drug addiction, living in unsafe neighborhoods, or have gangs operating in the area. Also, many of the children are being raised by their grandparents, who as a rule do not have the resources to keep kids safe and off the streets.


Boys Hope Girls Hope re-


mains a part of the students’ lives, even after they’ve gone on to college.


“We’re on our kids all the


time,” she said. “We provide scholarships. We provide the emotional support to get them through college as well.”


Thomas also pointed out


that 85 percent of the chil- dren in the program are the first in their family to go on to college.


Boys Hope Girls Hope also


THE MICHIGAN CHRONICLE


Election 2010 What happened to ‘urban green’?


must remain eternally vigilant while reconfig- uring our strategies based on which party is in control, which person is in place and what priorities are set. We have to keep sounding the alarm that over the last 25 years cities in the Great Lakes region have undergone dras- tic changes. The kind that warrant state and federal policies that leverage, reflect and fund these new realities.


Compartmentalization can no longer be the


order of the day. For instance, we cannot ef- fectively address:


■ climate change absent factors of health con- cerns specific to a rising senior population


■ retrofitting absent residents on fixed in- comes


■ green jobs absent felon re-enfranchisement, displaced autoworkers and single heads of households


■ air quality absent asthma rates


■ technical and scientific needs absent public education


■ smart growth absent managing land inven- tories


■ linking central cities to their metro areas absent addressing race relations


■ comprehensive green planning, environmen- tal justice and brownfield remediation absent voices and views of color.


■ new sustainable communities absent storm- water management, aligned public transpor- tation and insurance redlining


■ leveraging our regions university and medi- cal center assets absent higher education af- fordability


■ energy conservation absent utility rates ■ urban sprawl absent wildlife preservation. The list is infinite and the paradigm is out-


dated in its proliferation of suburb vs. inner city political barriers. The urban centers within the Great Lakes region are rich in opportunity to address complex green challenges that now ne- cessitate integrated, holistic and multidimen- sional responses.


Policy makers are not all knowing, so let’s


not assume otherwise. Send the winners of election 2010 a note of congratulations, intro- duce yourself and let them know that you will be in constant contact. Attach a list of green solutions and a set of green talking points of your choice then hold them accountable.


Simone Lightfoot heads up regional urban


initiatives for the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) Great Lakes Region. She integrates the work of the NWF with the regions urban green efforts including but not limited to air and water quality, sustainability, climate change, solid and hazardous waste, recycling, envi- ronmental justice, water conservation, inva- sive species, aged infrastructure, mass tran- sit, wind energy, community college trainings and new economy jobs. Her area includes Chicago, Indianapolis and Gary, Ind.; Milwau- kee, Wis., Cincinnati, Toledo, Columbus and Cleveland, Detroit and Buffalo, N.Y. She can be reached at 313.585.1052 or slightfoot2004@ yahoo.com.


From page A-1


encourages participating stu- dents to take part in extra curricular activities at school. Some sort of community ser- vice is also required.


“Not because they’re bad,


but because we feel strongly that they should give back to the community,” Thomas said.


In September, Boys Hope


Girls Hope commemorated its 25th anniversary at the Detroit Athletic Club. The celebration included a major contribution to the organization’s future.


“We’re letting everyone


know we got a significant gift from DeRoy Testamentary of $600,000 as a lead gift to de- velop a boarding program,” Thomas said, adding that it’s a $3 million campaign.


“And it’s going to be for


young men — 25 to 35 young men in this boarding pro- gram,” she said. “So it won’t be like the homes we have now, but it’ll serve absolutely the same purpose.”


She noted that there is


such a need out there, and that Boys Hope Girls Hope is trying to find more ways to serve more children.


After they finish this cam-


paign, they will start reach- ing out for the girls. Eventu- ally there will also be a girls’ boarding program, something the New York affiliate started.


“They have a boarding pro-


gram and it’s been extremely successful there,” she said.


Call (313) 862-0707 or visit


www.bhghdetroit.org for more information.


MARK WARDELL (left),associate provost and dean of the Graduate School at Wayne State University; Juanita Moore, president of the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American His- tory; Roberta Hughes Wright, widow of Dr. Charles H. Wright; Nikki Giovanni; and Dr. Robert Bobb, Detroit Public Schools emergency financial manager during Professor Giovanni’s recent visit to Detroit.


Giovanni


toral fellows would ask how she’s succeeded. Her answer: You succeed by letting people help you.


She said one of the biggest


problems that Black students face is that in order to come through the inner city, they usually come through alone.


“They don’t have a crew or


a gang, but in order to suc- ceed in college you have to have a study group,” Giovanni said. “You need a group of people. We learned that from law school. The first thing you do in law school is you have a study group. And if you don’t have a study group, you’ll never get through law school.”


She said the same thing is


true of undergraduates and graduate students, and that people in academia need to stress the importance of a study group.


“Law school teaches us so


much,” Giovanni said, adding that it doesn’t teach the law, it teaches how to think like a lawyer. Along those same lines, she said graduate stu- dents need to think like aca- demicians.


“We need to change how


they look at themselves and their world, and I think we’re seeing that more and more youngsters are interested in an academic career, but that’s a long-term involvement,” she said. “If you decide to go for a PhD, you’re looking at an- other six years, and so we’re obviously going to need finan- cial help, and a lot of encour- agement. And you’re going to have to feel like the institu- tion wants you to succeed. So we’re not only talking about the students, we’re talking about the faculty who are not used to seeing non-traditional students, which would be not White men.”


She said faculty will have


to make sure they’re saying to these students “we believe in you,” because students work much better for a teacher who


Snyder


raised when Snyder reached out to some veterans of the John Engler administration — whose legacy is divided among voters in the state — but then there was some comfort once Dillon was the made the big- gest news so far of the Snyder regime.


Voters gave Snyder the


mandate to pick the most competent people to help him run the drowning ship of state. If they can help get Michigan back on track and give De- troit more support, it should not matter what party those individuals belong to now or belonged to in the past. After all, politics has shown us that often partisan labels can be a mere facade that does not reveal the capabilities and pas- sions of the people behind the labels.


Democrats created their


own waterloo. They are crying now but hopefully they will spend more time trying to figure out how they got dealt this damaging blow.


Perhaps the Michigan


Democratic Party should have fully funded their candidates for secretary of state and Su-


preme Court, Jocelyn Benson and Denise Langford Morris, before pouring all of their re- sources into the dominant gu- bernatorial ticket that wasn’t getting any traction. It was like pouring water into a leaky bucket.


In my view these were the


two most important spots on the Democratic ticket be- cause of their tremendous potential to impact political representation — congressio- nal redistricting that will very likely end up at the Michigan Supreme Court as the final ar- biter — and administering the crucial 2012 presidential elec- tion and safeguarding voting rights which will be the duty of the next Michigan secretary of state.


Snyder’s appointments are


showing that he is moving toward a coalition/unity gov- ernment which is what Michi- gan needs. The state of the economy cannot be laid at the feet of the Democratic gover- nor Jennifer Granholm alone without calling into the ques- tion the role that Republican Senate leader Mike Bishop played and the stalled tactics


Cass Tech Jazz Band seeks help to perform in New York with Wynton Marsalis The Cass Tech Jazz Band, under


the leadership of Sharon Allen, has made significant accomplishments playing in various venues and com- petitions in Detroit and surrounding areas, including MSBOA, Baker’s Keyboard Lounge, and the Univer- sity of Michigan Statewide Competi- tion, and they have brought home several first place medals.


Additionally, they have been


asked to play during the Michigan Chronicle’s 75th Anniversary cel- ebration on Friday, Nov. 19, during which Congressman John Conyers, a staunch lover and supporter of jazz, will be honored.


We want our youth to have an op-


portunity to experience firsthand the richness and magic of music in one of New York’s historical theaters with jazz legend Wynton Marsalis.


Therefore, Cass Tech alumns, civic leaders, business owners and mem- bers of the community are being asked to rally for this most worthy cause. This support can help make this opportunity a reality for talent- ed, deserving young people.


The current budget for the two-


day trip is $6000 including travel and hotel accommodations. Orga- nizers have been successful in se-


believes in them than one who does not.


Giovanni said students pur-


suing a PhD and those pursu- ing an MD would have a lot of debt in six years, but the MD would be more comfort- able five years later. The PhD candidate, on the other hand, would still have a lot of debt.


“That’s the truth, because


you have no way to make money,” she said. “So going for a PhD is not a profession so much as it is a calling. It’s something that you feel you should do because you can help in this area.”


Giovanni believes the pur-


suit of a PhD should thus be honored.


During her visit to Wayne


State, she also met with ad- ministrators regarding ways to retain underrepresented students.


“Retention is really about


letting people know that you care for them, offering the pro- grams that are going to help,” she said. “That’s pretty much normal. Wayne State is grow- ing, and I think Detroit is defi- nitely on the comeback trail. And I think, as we have shown with developing, as well as developed nations, that if you can put your education insti- tutions, from K-12, and then your college, if you can put those on track, you’re going to be successful.”


She cited Finland, which


has made education a prior- ity.


“Finland’s about the size of


Detroit, but nonetheless, put- ting resources into education pays off,” Giovanni said.


She added that the best


dollar in America is the art dollar, because it turns over so many times.


“Putting money into arts,


into imagination, and then adding education, which would be facts and discipline, to it, it just has to pay off,” she said.


From page A-1 She also said education can


be taught as a skill. The most common mis-


conception Giovanni hears — which she emphasized she didn’t hear at Wayne State — is that Blacks don’t want to learn.


“Where the Pacific basin


students beat out everybody is that it is assumed they do want to learn,” she said, adding that they get the kind of help that makes their learning a benefi- ciary.


“And so we use that as a


paradigm.” She noted that people see


an Asian American and imme- diately think “this kid is smart and wants to learn,” and ap- proach them on that level.


“We just have to change the


way we look at Black students, at Hispanic students, at Native American students,” she said.


Giovanni, who grew up in


Cincinnati and is knowledge- able about Detroit, said so- called rivalries between “town and gown” can’t continue, cer- tainly not in Detroit.


She said Wayne State has


an opportunity to teach Co- lumbia University, which sits in the heart of Harlem, how to get along with its neighbors.


While in Detroit, Giovanni


also read to middle school stu- dents. She stressed the impor- tance of young people reading, and people in general.


She’s also thrilled with


electronic books, because it means books can no longer be censored.


Since Guttenberg’s printing


press, there’s been a history of people censoring books, but that’s over, she pointed out.


“The right wing, and they


do crazy things, and I’m not fond of them, they can go and burn what they want to burn,” she said. “But now the book can defend itself, so that’s in- credibly important.”


From page A-1


to shut down state govern- ment.


So when the history of the


Granholm administration is written, it has to be a painful narrative about how partisan gridlock, the dislikes of per- sonalities and the egotisti- cal battle for power interfered with meeting the most press- ing needs of taxpayers.


Snyder can learn from all of


that history by ensuring that he brings diverse voices in his cabinet as he’s done with the Dillon appointment. His gover- nance style and proclamations will determine how the public views him.


Snyder owes no special


interests, political groups or culture war activists who have paraded themselves as the commanders of morality any favors.


His only accountability


is to taxpayers who foot the bill of the state machine and not parasites — masking as concerned political activists — who have long been making their comfortable living by fueling wedge issues backed with deep pockets.


Balancing the state budget


curing a commitment of $1,000 from Ted Gatzaros of Greektown, so there is a need for an additional $5,000.


Checks and money orders should


be made payable to Cass Tech and mailed to 2501 Second Ave., De- troit, MI 48201-2605, c/o Cass Tech Jazz Band.


All contributions will be greatly


appreciated, and time is of the es- sence.


and getting down to business is top priority, and as we move forward it is important that Snyder employs those who are most talented and competent. Political philosophy should not be a determinant for ap- pointing able members of the Snyder administration.


True, that will disappoint


some individuals in his party, but for a man who has pro- claimed that he is not interest- ed in labels, we should accept, respect and, yes, applaud his decisions when they benefit our state.


November 10-16, 2010 Page A-4


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