Little Rock Chapter of Links Inc. celebrates its 60th birthday with black-tie gala

 

(Editor's note: Throughout my 12 years living in Little Rock, where I relocated from Monroe, La., I have been very impressed with the the Little Rock Chapter of The Links, Inc. — especially their devotion to helping others. Ladies, I want to congratulate you and wish you success with all your future endeavors!)


By Renarda A. Williams (aka Abari Sankofa)
On Nov. 9, 1946, Sarah Scott and Margaret Hawkins, two young Philadelphia, PA, matrons, "summoned their friends together and called upon them to link their friendship resources to form a chain of strength in order to improve the quality of life and provide the hope of the disadvantaged African American citizens.”

The heeding of that request was the beginning of  The Links, Inc., America's oldest and largest volunteer service organization of women "committed to enriching, sustaining and ensuring the culture and economic survival of African Americans and other persons of African ancestry.”

The organization was  incorporated in 1951. It now encompasses approximately 14,000 women in 283 chapters located in 41 states, the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, whose primary purpose is to promote and engage in educational, civic and intercultural activities that carry out its mission.

On January 13, 1956 — a decade after the founding of the Links Inc. — its Little Rock Chapter was chartered by 26 women. The current membership consists of 37 active and eight alumna members dedicated to serving the community. Gloria Love is the Little Rock Chapter President.

  

Gloria Love

 
On Nov. 11, the chapter will celebrate its 60th Diamond Anniversary with a black-tie gala, 7 p.m. at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock. Doors open at 6 p.m. The evening will include dinner, live entertainment by the Temptations Review featuring Dennis Edwards, and dancing. For tickets, $200 each, call (501) 350-3124 or email anniversary@littlerocklinksinc.org. (The event is a replacement for what otherwise would have been the chapter's 2016 Jazz Brunch, traditionally held the first Saturday in December.)

Members of The Links give back to their communities through generous contributions of their time, energy and finances to organizations whose goals parallel their own, such as The United Negro College Fund and the Susan G. Koran Foundation. Just since 2006, the Little Rock Chapter has given more than $100,000 in scholarships and charitable donations.

Programs of The Links  are designed to improve the quality of life for individuals that are traditionally underserved through its five program facets: The Arts, International Trends and services, Services to Youth, Health, and National Trends and Services. Local chapter programs are designed to impact elementary, middle and senior high students as well as senior citizens in the Pulaski county area. But not all chapter work is concentrated in local efforts. The chapter collaborated with Arkansas’ one other Links chapter — located in Pine Bluff — and several chapters in Tennessee to build the Valentine School in South Africa. These chapters continue to provide ongoing support for the school. The Little Rock chapter also implemented Linkages to Life, a program that includes organ, bone marrow and tissue transplant education and organ-donation initiatives.

 

"Our chapter members are extremely proud of the 60-year record of community service in the Little Rock metropolitan area,” Love wrote in  "Message from the President — History and Purpose of the Little Rock Chapter,” part of a chapter booklet. "In our 60th year, as we move forward, locked in a chain of friendship and service, we pledge to redouble our efforts and honor our beloved organizers and charter members by doing all in our power to preserve the mission, integrity and legacy of the Little Rock Chapter of the Links, Inc.” 

What does Love believe to be the greatest accomplishment of the Little Rock Chapter of The Links, Inc.? She cited the progress that the chapter has made versus when she became a member nearly 30 years ago.  She is especially proud their work to help children in such areas as education and health (the latter including implementation of an obesity program, teaching healthful eating habits, and giving away bicycles). "We work hard to raise money for our children,” she said.

Back in 1956 — and today — "Our goal is to make a difference for ourselves and our world."

 

Dr. Juanita Bynum

Dr. Juanita Bynum’s sermon was indeed “Unbreakable”
By Renarda A. Williams (aka Abari Sankofa)

An audience of some 300 people receipted a spiritual uplift by Dr. Juanita Bynum, internationally acclaimed preacher of the gospel and platinum recording artist, during her recent visit to Little Rock.
Bynum was the main speaker at the first “Unbreakable" Women’s Conference, held Aug. 19-20 at Second Baptist Church, 1709 John Barrow Road. The conference was designed to empower, encourage, and enrich women from all walks of life. Brenda Hatton Ficklin, a member of St. Mark Baptist Church in Little Rock, presented the event, which also featured guest speaker Dr. Sharon Nesbit of Dominion World Outreach in Marion; national recording artist Lecresia Campbell; and the St. Mark praise team.

“I was quite surprised when the invitation came, and the Lord accepted it,” Bynum told the audience during the opening session of conference. "I was overwhelmed because I knew then that God would have me to share not only what He has been speaking, what He has been downloading and revealing; but it had to be the right place, it had to be the time, and it had to be the right people — or the message, which was a divine message, would have been lost in translation,” Bynum said.
She spoke to the audience about their personal struggles, referencing the story of Job in the Old Testament.

“Some of us don’t have a tendency to compare the opposite force with what God is doing,” she said. "We are always ever ready to give the Devil all of his glory, and all of his praise for all of what he does. What he does is never, ever to you or about you.

"I remember when I was going through my transition, some, maybe, six years ago, I was sitting on the couch weeping. And the spirit of the Lord came [literally] in my living room and [asked me], ‘Why are you weeping? … This is not personal, this is business!’ … What the enemy is really after is what you have not yet produced. [Satan] hit you because ... he’s afraid of what you are about to do ... and afraid [of what you might become].

“God called a meeting about you,” Bynum added. “There's no need for God to hold a meeting about you unless you are stronger than you think you are.” Be encouraged, she told listeners. “God is taking you somewhere."

Lynda Blackmon Lowery: Veteran of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March, By Renarda A. Williams (aka Abari Sankofa)

 




Author Lynda Blackmon Lowery

        

NOTE: I submitted the following article — a commemoration of the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery March in Alabama —  to run in the March/April 2015 issue of Faith and Soul News Magazine of Fayetteville/Atlanta, GA. Its publisher is a client of my Little Rock, AR, media business, The Umoja Network. 

As said magazine issue went unpublished due to unforeseen circumstances, I offer the story here. It is always my pleasure to present historic pieces such as this to the readership of The Empowerment Initiative Online Newsletter Blog. 

Hotep People! 

***

Can you imagine, being only 14, marching out of Selma, Ala, for Montgomery on Sunday, March 7, 1965, being brutally attacked by law enforcement officers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, and surviving the ordeal? This is what happened to Lynda Blackmon Lowery of Selma, who turned 15 several weeks after the day known as "Bloody Sunday" and was the youngest person to complete the subsequent, historic Voting Rights March of 1965. 

Lowery is the author of a fascinating book titled Turning 15  On The Road To Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Voting Rights March, as told by Elspeth Leacok and Susan Buckley and illustrated by PJ Loughran (Dial Books for Young Readers, Jan. 8, 2015, $19,99). This powerful story about Lowery's life is sure to bring chills, and pride, to the young readers toward whom the book is geared. 

Lowery works as a case manager at a mental health center, and still lives in Selma, Ala.

During an interview with Faith & Soul, Lowery said it was an awesome feeling to have helped make history ... but that this wasn't her goal at that time. 

"I was just thinking about making change. And the reason I can say 'change' so readily is because my grandmother used to say, 'Anything worth having is worth changing as needed.'  We were making change and I think that change was history," Lowery noted.

She actually learned about nonviolence at age 13, Lowery said, adding that her grandmother was her biggest inspiration. 

"I had a strong, determined and religious grandmother. [She] brought up my siblings, and [me] to be strong and determined. 

"To add on to that, I ... heard Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speak when I was 13 years old. He talked about the right to vote, and how it would change things for grown people. He said you can get anyone to do anything with steady loving confrontation. To me, the steady loving confrontation was, I guess, what God did in the Bible. He loved us and He won souls over.

"I don't believe in violence, and never believed in violence. I believe in steady loving confrontation."

Lowery said she wants today's young people to know that they, too, can make a difference without fists or guns.

"If you want to make change, you will have to make people believe in you! It does not take fighting all the time," she elaborated. Fighting actually gives you nothing! You need to have a steady heart. Some [young people] may say that you are giving up or being a punk, or whatever they want to call it. You are using your mind ... You do not have to use your fist to encourage people."

Lowery said she was encouraged to write the book by her two friends, Elspeth Leacock and Susan Buckley both authors of children's history books. They decided that her story was interesting. 

The story was actually written 10 years ago. "In October 2012, we got an agent," Lowery said. "And the agent, by April 2013, got a publisher who was interested ... Penguin Random House." The book was released Jan, 8, 2015.

"I did not know the impact that it would make. I think there is a message in [it] for young people. And it was that they are the future history makers. And [that] if you see something, you can change it — just by wanting to work toward it — and doing it better! History is a journey of change to me. Nobody changes something that is good for you. Everybody would want to change something that is bad for everyone. Pick your battles and see what change is going to make." 

Lowery said the experience of Bloody Sunday left her terrified, but more determined than ever to fight for equality.

When the tear gas was released by law enforcement officers that day, she was down on her knees, as she had been drilled to do beforehand. Like her fellow marchers, she was unable to breathe or see. It was confusing and scary, she recalled; they never encountered tear gas before. 

"I was hit by on the forehead by a sheriff's deputy," Lowery said. "After he hit me, he pushed me and [it was then that] I rolled over and started to run. He came right behind me — hitting me. And I ran into a cloud of tear gas.

"That was a scary, scary thing! It was scary enough to make me [want to] fight back, but not fight back in a physical sense." Instead, Lowery was determined to fight back from a mental sense, letting them know that they'd created the very thing they would later be afraid of: an educated Black female. "I figured white folks were scared of educated Blacks, period! And I was going to be an educated Black person, and they [would] have to deal with me."

At the time, Lowery adds, "I wanted to show the governor that I [was] no threat to him at 14 years old. That's why I wanted to march to Selma."

Lowery said she appreciates it when people call her brave for what she faced. "But I call it being determined, and determination. To be brave, and to be courageous, means that you have to be determined! You have to overcome fear," she said.

"There were others like me who were brave. I was not brave, I was just determined to do something."

The Kinsey Collection: More than an exhibit — it's the shaping of America and the World!

By Renarda A. Williams (aka Abari Sankofa)

It is important to know where you came from in order to know where you are going. And that's what The Kinsey Collection is all about ... educating Black America as to where it came from.

The Kinseys' collection of African American history is not just a glimpse into the history of  Blacks in America. It's not just an account of the oppression we faced after we were stolen from Kemet (an Egyptian term meaning "land of the blacks") where we were kings, queens, scientists, doctors, educators and created empires. It is a glimpse into history that shaped America and the world.


I have long been amazed by Bernard W. Kinsey's Shirley Pooler Kinsey's extraordinary historical collection chronicling the African American experience. It was in 2009 that I first began to receive their press releases. I submitted the contents in my free online newsletter, The Empowerment Initiative News Flash (TEION).

For the past seven years, the Kinseys have focused their attention on their national touring museum exhibit of African American art and history dating back to the year 1600. The collection — which has exhibited in 18 cities, been written of in more than 400 articles and television programs worldwide, and been viewed by more than five million visitors — was the first-ever private collection on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, DC.

Brought together by activism and married more than four decades, the successful couple has raised millions of dollars for numerous organizations and college programs, including their alma mater, Florida A&M University. They have a passion for African American history, art and culture and, in one of the largest private collections of African American art, have amassed artifacts, documents and artwork spanning 400 years of history.

Bernard Kinsey is the president and founder of KBK Enterprises, a management consulting firm with extensive experience and success providing advice and counsel to senior-level executives. He has consulted on economic development with the governments of South Africa, Germany, the U.K., and France, and was appointed Honorary Consul General by the U.S. State Department and the Central African Republic. Kinsey also enjoyed a 20-year association with the Xerox Corporation and was one of the pioneers in breaking down racial barriers in corporate America. His leadership of the Xerox Black Employees Association led to the hiring of thousands of black employees, women, and Latinos, and is the subject of a Harvard Business School case study. 

Last year, I met Bernard Kinsey, and his son son Khalil, at a lunch and lecture at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center (MTCC) in downtown Little Rock, Arkansas. There to give a preview of the Kinsey exhibit, which debuted at the center April 8 of this year and which closes July 2, Bernard and Khalil spoke of the importance of having an exhibit like The Kinsey Collection to educate African Americans. Bernard Kinsey spoke of wanting to raise the consciousness of blacks so they would understand the significance of our struggle and achievements of the past and present.

The Kinseys also emphasized how essential it is for Black America to know about the contributions African people have made around the world. (When Barnard Kinsey mentioned the role of the Moors of North Africa in the civilizing of Europe, I, being Pan Afrikanist and Africentrist, couldn't help but let out a loud, "YEAH!" Bernard turned around and responded, "that's right brother!")

Two days before the exhibit's opening at Mosaic Templars, Bernard and Khalil Kinsey returned to Little Rock — this time with Shirley Kinsey — where Bernard delivered another powerful lecture at the Clinton School For Public Service. By way of collection, they are hoping to cut down the barriers that exist in Little Rock, and most of America, forged in racial bias, he said.

"What we decided to do, is to really look at this through the untold story, contributions, and achievements [by African Americans]. We have a show that I think is going to knock your socks off! You are going to see stuff that you will never ever see again. If you are into seeing history, seeing these remarkable stories, and wonderful accomplishments of achievements — not just about African Americans, [but] America, and the building of this country — this is what you are going to get.

"Why are we here at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center? The Mosaic Templars, itself, is in a historical [place], on Ninth Street and Broadway, where in 1883, there were 90,000 policyholders, can you believe that?" Kinsey asked in reference to the fact that the fraternal organization was one that offered insurance for black people. "The Mosaic Templars represented one of the biggest businesses in the South, right here in Little Rock. In 1721, of the 47 people that founded Arkansas, there were six black folks. In Los Angeles, 26 of the 44 people that founded Los Angeles were black, and they spoke Spanish, and they were of African descent. We've been at this thing for a long time, but the history books have decided not to put us in there."

Bernard and Shirley Kinsey interview

                                            
                                                          Bernard and Shirley Kinsey

After this lecture, I had a golden opportunity to interview Bernard, Shirley and Khalil Kinsey when they came to the Mosaic Templars to do an interview with the media. I asked them whether they thought today's African Americans should do more than just acknowledge, learn, and be proud of their history. Shouldn't they also forge their own history for the next generation?

"That's a great question!" Bernard Kinsey acknowledged. "Shirley created a program called SOS — 'Save Our Stuff.' We had a young lady that just started at the Clinton School come up, and she had a tintype of an Union soldier. And I happen to know that it was an Union soldier, because we have a similar tintype from the 1860s. And I said to her, 'Hold on to that.' A young man had the whip that his great-grandfather had, [and that had] been used in Mississippi, in Chickasaw County. What we have to learn how to do is to know the difference between stuff and museum quality [pieces — and that's through] identification. In other words, if you get a photograph and you can identify the people on the photograph and why they are important .... the photograph comes to life."

(When Bernard talked about the young woman's tintype of an Union soldier and the whip the young man showed him, I thought about the 1952 voter's registration card belonging to my late great-grandmother, Viola Coleman Erving. My mother gave me the card years ago, when I returned to my Alexandria, LA, hometown after college and worked as a substitute teacher, newspaper reporter and social worker. My mother told me that during those days of Jim-Crow racial segregation, the voter registration office had black people wait in long lines everyday in an attempt to discourage them from voting.  Mama (my great grandmother) was repeatedly turned away, ostensibly because the polls closed before she had a chance to register. But every day, she would get up and once again walk from our neighborhood — the Sonia Quarters, the fourth-toughest black neighborhood in the city — to the voter registration office to try again. She did this every day until she finally received her voter's registration card.)

Shirley Kinsey said she always tells young people to start now interviewing their grandparents.

"With all this technology, they need to record their grandparents' stories ... so that this can become their history!" she said. "There are so many untold stories that our own families never know about. My uncle passed away in 1993, and he knew Zora Neal Hurston. He had letters from her to him. He knew Cab Calloway, Sarah Vaughn, and Jacob Lawrence. I never knew that, because I never asked those questions." Hurston's letters are in the exhibit.

When Americans fully appreciate the contribution of African Americans in the building of America, a lot of the barriers that have been erected will come down, Bernard Kinsey said.

"And that's why The Kinsey Collection is so important," he said. "What we want to say here is something you didn't know, because we didn't. Here's another way to look at this: We believe in the power of learning through information that will change how you think about [us] ... In other words, the only thing new is the history you do not know," he ended. 

Khalil Kinsey Interview

 

Khalil Kinsey

Khalil Kinsey also expounded on the importance of The Kinsey Collection. He noted that even with the success that the collection has enjoyed in the last 10 years — a success that is comparable to some of the most famous exhibits in the world — the Kinseys still sometimes face the challenge of having to sell themselves. They go where they are invited, he said,

Khalil spoke of  meeting Sericia Cole, former director of the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, at a conference a few years ago. "She [asked me when would we] bring it to Little Rock? And I said I would love to have the conversation ... and here we are," Khalil noted. 

"We don't ever know what we are going to [walk] into ... in terms of some venues, and we have had some surprises. But the most part, the facilities are always great. We came here [last] November, and we were just blown away by the history of the museum and the permanent collection that highlights Arkansas Black history.

"We kind of live by the old Boy Scout saying: 'We want to leave the place better than we found it.' It doesn't mean it was a bad place. We just want to improve it, and shine a spotlight on it .... and we think the Mosaic Templars should be celebrated and highlighted in Little Rock and greater Arkansas. This is an outstanding facility. And it's been a pleasure being here."

The Kinsey Collection

I've seen some outstanding exhibits about black history across the country, but The Kinsey Collection is one of the most spectacular and impressive exhibits about the black experience I've ever seen. The spirits of the ancestors "spoke" to me throughout the time I toured the Kinsey's fantastic collection. I also had a sense of warmth and appreciation for what our ancestors did to make me the Pan Africanist and Africentrist I am today.

The collection was a remarkable display of "OUR HISTORY." It's a display that will make viewers feel elated and proud of the brothers and sisters who sacrificed their lives for Black America to carry out "Sankofa" — an Akan word from Ghana whose meaning, simply put, is "learning from the past and building the future."

I salute the mastery of the Kinseys in creating a black historical exhibit that will open the eyes of people who don't believe that BLACK PEOPLE stolen from the continent of Africa did not make a contribution to the building of America.

The Kinsey Collection:

Shared Treasures of Bernard and Shirley Kinsey

Where Art and History Intersect

The best way I can describe the book The Kinsey Collection: Shared Treasures of Bernard and Shirley Kinsey Where Art and History Intersect (The Bernard and Shirley Kinsey Foundation for Arts and Education, The Kinsey Collection & KBK ENT, Inc., ENT. Inc., Pacific Palisades, CA, 2013)  is that it's an immaculate black-history exhibit in book form.

This companion piece to the Kinsey collection should be viewed as a personal home exhibit for those who attended The Kinsey Collection. The artifacts, documents and letters and other material showcased in the book help capture the essence of black diasporan life in America.

As a History major, I will cherish this book for the rest of my life. It's a perfect gift to give to family and friends who missed a chance to see this amazing collection.

Muhammad Ali: Warrior, Activist and Spiritual Man!

By Abari Sankofa (aka Renarda A. Williams)

On Saturday morning, June 4, 2016, Muhammad Ali went to rest with the ancestors. He fulfilled his purpose for fostering the betterment of humanity.

He was a warrior whose extraordinary boxing skills will never ever be duplicated; an activist who challenged America's elitist governmental and capitalistic system — especially by his decision not to  fight in an unjust war in Vietnam; and a spiritual man ... a devoted Muslim who inspired and empowered people of different faiths all over the world.

It was during my junior and senior years in college that I got involved in Pan Africanism and Afrocentricity, and began to admire Ali, mainly because he was always proud to be BLACK! In particular, he supported the black print and electronic media press. I respected his commitment to empowering Black people in the diaspora and Africa, and other races of people around the world. He donated money to causes that dealt with the poor, homeless, and sick, especially those with incurable diseases, such as his own Parkinson's Disease.

I also respected the gentle and humble spirit of the man born Cassius Clay. I wished I had met him in person. I am sure Ali and I would have been the best of friends.

There are two things, among many others, Ali did that I will carry with me for the rest of my life: During one afternoon in the mid or latter 1980s, I saw Ali on a national news station running with several police officers in a major American city (I forget where) to a building on top of which was a man about to commit suicide. Ali was the one who talked the man down. 

Second, in 2004, I received a review copy of Ali's book, The Soul of a Butterfly: Reflections on Life's Journey (Simon and Schuster, 2004). Part of Ali's introduction has touched my spirit:

"My concept of religion has broadened over the years. My mother was a Baptist, and my father was a Methodist. They both believed that Jesus was the son of God. I don't believe that, but I believe he was an important prophet like Moses. I believe that on Judgement Day, my parents will be in heaven, not because they were without fault, but because they were decent, loving human beings, and they believed in God. We all have the same God, we just serve him differently. Rivers, lakes, ponds, streams, oceans, all have different names, but they all contain water. So do religions have different names, and they all contain truth, expressed in different ways, forms, and times. It doesn't matter whether you're a Muslim, Christian, or Jew. When you believe in God, you should believe that all people are part of one family. If you love God, you can't love only some of his children."

 On June 8, Roland Martin, host of TV One News One Now, talked with Ali's daughter, Maryum Ali, about a documentary on her father titled I am Ali. The documentary is an intimate and heartwarming look at Ali, the man behind the legend, that has never seen before. It was told through exclusive, unprecedented access to Ali's personal archive of 'audio journals' combined with touching interviews and testimonials from his inner circle of family and friends ... his daughters, son, brother and former wife, plus legends of the boxing community such as Mike Tyson, George Foreman, and Gene Kilroy. Maryum Ali told Martin that the documentary is one everybody should watch. She said the film shows her father's soul, heart, and spirit.

 Martin asked Maryum Ali whether it surprised her to see the kind of respect people have for Muhammad Ali today.  "No, it doesn't," she replied. "As children, we've seen [his greatness] for a long time. We know what he [has] accomplished. We are very blessed." 

Martin also mentioned the June 6 statement made by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan about Muhammad Ali:

"The flesh of Muhammad Ali must return to the earth, but what he has done for the cause of Islam, for the cause of freedom, justice and equality will never die. These are the words that strike me, a life well lived and a job well done. He has finished his course. May Allah (God) grant him [the] Paradise that we believe he justly deserves."

Tavis Smiley, author, host and managing editor of Tavis Smiley on PBS and The Tavis Smiley Show from Public Radio International; and Earl Ofari Hutchinson, author, political analyst, and syndicated columnist, also commented on Ali.


In the June 5, 2016 CBS News Sunday Morning episode, "How Muhammad Ali helped Tavis Smiley Healed a Father-Son Rift," Smiley talked about the defining moment of his life that occurred was when he was just 12 years old.

  Muhammad Ali with Emory Garnell Smiley
Photo credit: Tavis Smiley

Smiley was falsely accused of a transgression by the minister at his church. According to Smiley's 2006 book What I Know for Sure: My Story of Growing Up in America, the accusations involved misbehavior during Sunday School ... "running wild, disobeying their teacher, disrespecting their teacher, disrespecting the sanctity of this building, and mocking the holy message being taught." In a momentary lapse of judgment, Smiley's stepfather, Emory Garnell Smiley, a deacon and a church trustee, believed the minister and beat Smiley so severely that it put him in the hospital.

"That incident essentially ruined my relationship with my dad during those all-important adolescent years, and we were basically estranged well into my adulthood. The great freedom fighter Frederick Douglass once said, 'It's easier to build strong children than it is to repair broken men,'" Smiley noted.

Smiley noted he was a broken man, struggling emotionally for years with how to repair the relationship with his father, whom he'd long since forgiven, but with whom he still didn't have a loving relationship.

Then enters Muhammad Ali.

"As a child, my fondest memories of the good times with my dad all revolved around watching those historic Ali fights on TV. My dad loved Ali — not just for his mastery of the sweet science in the ring, but for his courage to be a truth-teller.

"And I'd never seen a man so willing to speak the truth, no matter the consequences. And so, Ali, the freest Black man I'd ever seen, became my hero, too.

"I could never have imagined that I'd ever grow up to meet the champ, interview him many times, hang out with him, and eventually be honored to call him a friend and a brother. But sometimes your life exceeds your dreams," Smiley said.

Smiley mentioned he hosted an event in Ali's honor one night, and decided to surprise his dad by taking him as his guest. Smiley reserved a seat for his dad at the head table, right next to Ali.
 
"I guess you can imagine how this story ends. I've only seen my dad cry twice in his life: once when his father died, and the night he met Muhammad Ali.

"Ali was always the people's champ, but his lifetime of giving to others is what he'll be most treasured for. He felt that his love and service to everyday people was the rent he paid for the space he occupied.

"And as such, he always made you feel like you were the most important person in the room. He certainly made my dad feel that way, and every time I saw the champ from that night forward, I gave him a big hug and thanked him profusely for being the healing that helped to repair my relationship with my father," Smiley ended.

Smiley further noted that in a year where the world lost a number of legendary figures, it was especially going to miss The Greatest of All Time.

"We all owe Muhammad Ali a debt that we can never repay. I know I do," Smiley concluded.

Hutchinson stated in his June 4, 2016 column, The Hutchinson Report, that "The Greatest is gone." Hutchinson said when he heard of Ali's passing, his mind instantly raced back to 1968. He mentioned that Muhammad Ali by then had become America's biggest pariah. 

"His conversion to the Nation of Islam, his one-time friendship with Malcolm X, his outspoken black preachments, all capped by his refusal to be inducted [into the military] and his outspoken stance against the Vietnam War, made him a marked man. A federal grand jury in Houston quickly indicted him, and an all-white jury convicted him. He was slapped with the maximum punishment of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. His passport was revoked. The FBI stepped up its effort to ruin him," Hutchinson said. 

He wrote of how one the FBI's many wiretaps on Martin Luther King Jr. in 1967 revealed that Ali had proposed to donate the proceeds from a boxing match to King's organization. But the match could not be held since every state boxing commission in the country had, by then, revoked Ali's license.

"Still, the FBI was alert for any hint that Ali might try to dodge legal restrictions on him to earn money in the ring. J. Edgar Hoover, the notorious head of the FBI at the time, assigned agents to watch and record everything that Ali said whenever he appeared on Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show. FBI agents also distributed 'anti-violent statements' to counter what the bureau called 'the anti-Vietnam stand of Cassius Clay.' The FBI's spy-and-intimidation operation against Ali was finally exposed in legal documents in his draft case in 1970," Hutchinson noted.

Hutchinson pointed out that by then, Ali, had embarked on the speaking circuit, talking to anti-war and student groups on various campuses. One of his stops was at California State University, Los Angeles, Hutchinson's alma mater. Ali arrived on campus followed by a small swarm of FBI agents. Wherever Ali went, FBI agents tracked his every move. Which didn’t matter to Ali; in fact, Hutchinson continued, it added to Ali's allure. 

"I, and a small entourage of Black Student Union members, met him in the parking lot to serve as his 'official' escorts to the auditorium. Ali was the paragon of cheer and graciousness, and was as always playful. He shook everyone’s hand and engaged in lighthearted banter with the students. In his talk, he stuck to his stock themes, leading a chant, 'No Vietcong ever called me a nigger,' punctuated by digs at the Johnson administration and his denunciation of racial oppression. During his speech, the FBI took notes and snapped pictures of those in the crowd," Hutchinson said.

What really brought the house down, Hutchinson recalled, was Ali's shout to the standing-room-only crowd that despite everything the government did to him, he still was the biggest, baddest and prettiest, and yes ... the greatest. "As he departed to loud cheers and shouts of encouragement, I, and a few others, thrust our draft cards in front of him, and he eagerly signed mine and the others. To this day. his signature on my draft card is one of my most precious and endearing keepsakes," Hutchinson ended.

In the next two decades, he said, the unthinkable happened, Hutchinson wrote. Ali was no longer America’s fallen and disgraced boxing champion. He was reborn, even exalted, as an American global ambassador of sport and even of political goodwill. In the immediate aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks, a Hollywood group loosely known as Hollywood 9/11 —  which worked with the Bush administration to support the war on terrorism  —  promoted happy images of American life to film audiences in Africa and the Middle East. And whom did they choose to be their star pitchman? "You guessed it, Ali," Hutchinson wrote.

"During the next decade, the honors continued to flow to him. Presidents, heads of state, and foreign dignitaries, all hailed him as an authentic American hero and icon. But Ali’s struggle with Parkinson’s Disease had clearly taken its toll. Yet the rare times he appeared in public, I noted that he still had that same ingratiating smile he greeted me with those years earlier. And he would snap out an occasional playful jab to swooning and adoring admirers.  Despite everything, Ali was and would always be mine and the world’s 'peoples champ' and yes, the greatest," Hutchinson ended.

Hutchinson also submitted the following statement and photos in The Hutchinson Report: "This is the Muhammad Ali the World Must Also Remember!"
 

 

 

 

Prince and Maurice White ... who will take over where they left off?

By Abari Sankofa (aka Renarda A. Williams)

On April 22, the world lost music icon Prince (aka Prince Rogers Nelson), 57. He was found dead in an elevator at his Paisley Park home outside of Minneapolis, MN. His unique talent will be sorely missed, and his shoes will never be filled.

 
Prince

His passing isn't the first tough blow music fans have been dealt this year. Powerhouse Maurice White, 74, founder of the R&B group Earth, Wind and Fire, joined the ancestors in his sleep at his home in Los Angeles on February 4. In 1992, White was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, with which he suffered until his death ... a death reported by mainstream media, but not nearly to the same extent as Prince's departure.
 

 

Maurice White

 “My brother, hero and best friend Maurice White passed away peacefully last night in his sleep," Verdine White, bassist for Earth, Wind and Fire, stated in a Feb. 5 Associated Press article by David Sauder and Hillel Italie. "While the world has lost another great musician and legend, our family asks that our privacy is respected as we start what will be a very difficult and life-changing transition ... Thank you for your prayers and well wishes.”

An array of renowned musicians and other celebrities, including Nile Rogers and Chris Rock, expressed their appreciation of White and his legacy.

White founded Earth, Wind and Fire in Chicago in 1971. The group emerged from a previous band known as the Salty Peppers. Other members, in addition to Verdine White, were Phillip Bailey, Ralph Johnson, Larry Dunn, Al McKay, Andrew Woolfolk and Ronnie Laws. Years later, the band grew even more. Earth, Wind and Fire is known for its dynamic horn section (one of the elements of the band that I have loved since becoming a fan during my junior high school years), energetic theatrics, elaborate stage shows, the interplay between Maurice White's tenor vocals and Phillip Bailey's falsetto, and Maurice's skills with the kalimba (African thumb piano). Earth, Wind and Fire racked up a number of memorable hits throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, including "That's the Way of the World," "Devotion," "Reasons," "Sing a Song" "Can't Hide Love," "Getaway," "Fantasy," "Love's Holiday," "September," "Boogie Wonderland," "After the Love Has Gone," and "Let's Groove."      

I've always thought of Maurice White, and the band as a whole, as essentially Africentric (African rhythms blended with Black diasporan sounds, such as classical and smooth jazz, gospel, dance music, blues, and rock). Their entire songbook was a message of universal love, exuding and encouraging unity, consciousness, spirituality and empowerment. I really believe their vision was to create harmony among mankind for its betterment.

I've had an opportunity to interview both Phillip Bailey and Verdine White — Phillip for The Empowerment Initiative Online Newsletter's July 2002 anniversary issue (I'd created TEION as a printed publication in Monroe, La. on July 8, 1999, two years after attending the Million Man March); and Verdine for the Vision Magazine in Little Rock, for which I've served as associate editor.   

One question I asked Phillip was how his and his bandmates' careers had grown with Earth, Wind and Fire.

"We appreciate our music more than we did when we first started the group," he answered. "When you experience success, you never live life enough to feel the full impact of your career — and this is what happened to us! As we began to live, and felt the full impact of our career, we started to appreciate our music. Earth, Wind and Fire could not have survived if it was not for 1) our history; 2) the testimony in the quality of our performance; 3) the way we demonstrated things over the years; and 4) a certain type of respect that we have received from people around the world."

When Earth, Wind and Fire came to Little Rock to headline the 2010 edition of the city's annual Riverfest, I asked Verdine whether, and how, the band was reaching listeners of all ages.

"We are reaching audiences of every generation ... from ages 18, 19, 25, 35, and up," he said. "We have not had any difficulty adjusting with the changing times ... blending in today's music with our style of music."

I cherish the golden opportunities I was given to interview these members of Earth, Wind and Fire. Unfortunately, Maurice was battling Parkinson's during those times, and was no longer touring.

I regret not having had the opportunity to interview him ... or Prince.

I've always admired Prince, not just for his music but for the fact that he had a true heart for helping new artists (something most media ignored). I especially admired his declaration of independence from mainstream record companies  — marked by his act of temporarily changing his name to an unpronounceable symbol when battling Warner Bros. — and his creation of his own label.

"Remembering the Other Prince" was the title of the April 22 edition of The Hutchinson Report. Earl Ofari Hutchinson — noted author, political analyst, radio talk show host and regular contributor to The Empowerment Initiative Online Newsletter News Flash — showcased Prince's work helping those who couldn't help themselves, as well as his advocacy work in other areas.

Hutchinson started off his column by using Prince's lyrical statement on the death of Freddie Gray, who was among a number of  black men and women who have been died at the hands of police in recent years:

Does anyone hear us pray?
For Michael Brown or Freddie Gray
Peace is more than the absence of war.
If there ain't no justice then there ain't no peace.

"Baltimore police officials couldn't have been too thrilled about these lyrics ... ," Hutchinson wrote. "They were the lyrics in Prince’s 'Baltimore,' a rollicking, but moving, and heartfelt tribute to the slain Freddy Gray that was released weeks before his May 2015 benefit concert for the Gray family.

"The lyrics were Prince’s in-your-face message to Baltimore police and city officials who first stonewalled Gray’s death, and then watched as riots convulsed the city in the aftermath of it. This was no fly-by-night cheap, celebrity photo-op publicity gambit to capitalize on the turbulent events in the city. The month before, the soft-spoken Prince gently reminded and admonished the audience at the Grammys at the Staples Center in Los Angeles: 'Albums — remember those? Albums still matter. Albums, like books and black lives, still matter.'"

 Even before Prince took the stage at the Grammys and in Baltimore at the Gray Benefit concert, he'd caused a flap two years earlier with his lambasting of Wall Street greed in his song “Ol’ Skool Company,” Hutchinson pointed out, adding that the artist had minced no words: 

Fat cats on Wall Street, they got a bailout, while somebody else got to wait.
Seven hundred billion dollars, but my old neighborhood, ain’t nothing changed but the date.

"When I heard those words, I thought back to the Prince concert I attended in the early 1990s and especially the one I attended at the Inglewood Forum in April, 2011," Hutchinson continued. "At this concert, Prince insisted that tickets not carry the standard usurious, highway-robbery prices for big-name performers' concerts."

Prince gave more than $1 million from proceeds of the tour to the Harlem Children’s Zone and more than $500,000 to arts programs in New York and North Carolina, Hutchinson revealed. "This made sense and was in keeping with Prince’s rage against hunger, poverty, and especially its devastating and corrosive effects on children in a track in his 1985 single, 'Hello.' He both pleaded for and scolded America for its abysmal indifference to the hungry and poor: 'We’re against hungry children, our record stands tall, but there’s just as much hunger here at home.'

"It was that social consciousness that was too often ignored, downplayed, or missed completely. This was also true with Michael Jackson. And as with Jackson, Prince had a track record to prove that he really did care." Other cases in point brought out by Hutchinson included Prince's donations to such charities as City of Hope, Jazz Foundation of America, Urban Farming and the Edith Couey Memorial Scholarship Trust Fund ... and, at one concert, his onstage advocacy for the Rebuild the Dream foundation, which provides jobs, skills training, and business opportunities for minority youth in Chicago.

Like Jackson, Prince often faced demands to say and do more outright against racial injustice, Hutchinson wrote. But Prince chose his battles carefully and cleverly. "It was his charitable work and willingness to use his music when and where he felt it could make a difference and to make his protest in his own way against injustice that must be known and remembered."

Still, Prince at his death received more figurative flowers than Maurice White did.

Brother Wayne, host of the KABF-FM, 88.3 radio show Respect For Life, a regular reader of The Empowerment Initiative, observed that Prince emerged on the music scene with a fan base that was already largely white. Therefore he was more on the radar of the white-priority system ... and that system has so much control of Black people that it even affects how we honor our musical geniuses. 

"Check out how white peoples' reaction to musical genius Prince has amped up our reaction too. Whereas, white people had no or very limited reaction to the death of another of our musical geniuses, Maurice White, so we had a very subdued reaction too. This disappoints me. Freedom to think for ourselves is the main battle."

Brother Wayne, you are so right. Prince made an impact, but to the "mainstream," he made more an impact than Maurice. But these men, and their legacies, should receive equal attention. Prince and Maurice were among the most ingenious, remarkable, and phenomenal musical artists that this world has ever seen.

I can go on and on here about the Prince and Earth, Wind and Fire songs and moments I cherish the most. But two burning questions loom above my fond memories and the issue of who was more appreciated/mourned:

What musicians will take over where these giants left off?

Who will put aside the matter of mere money, take the music to another level and empower, motivate, and encourage people to make the world a better place?

I wonder.

Dr. Milton P. Crenchaw: A Man with Honor, Integrity, and Dignity

      Dr. Milton P. Crenchaw        

                                                                 Photo Credit: Aviate Through Knowledge

by Renarda A. Williams (aka Abari Sankofa)  

Dr. Milton P. Crenchaw, a Tuskegee Airman known as the Father of Black Aviation in Arkansas, went to rest with the ancestors on November 17, 2015. But he left his spirit with those who knew him — along with a longstanding legacy.

More than 60 people attended a Black History celebration, "The Legacy Continues," in the Lafayette Building in downtown Little Rock on Feb. 27. The event celebrated Crenchaw's life as well as the founding of the Milton P. Crenchaw Aviation Training Academy (MPCATA). The event was also a MPCATA fundraiser and a swearing-in ceremony for seven academy cadets, all students from Cloverdale Middle School.

Michele Wright and Reba Wingfield were masters of ceremonies for the program, which got underway with Judge Wendell Griffen delivering powerful opening remarks about Crenchaw and the importance of MPCATA.

Crenchaw's daughter, Dolores Crenchaw Singleton, emphasized that the legacy of her father, as a hero, should never be forgotten. She told of how Crenchaw always valued education, especially as it related to aviation technology.

Terence Bolden, MPCATA's board president, addressed the audience via Skype about the academy's five-year vision, and introduced Cheryl Chew as the organization's new consulting executive director. The program concluded with Wright being presented with the MPCATA President's Award by State Sen. Joyce Elliott (D-Little Rock).  

My memories

I met Crenchaw a few months after I relocated from Monroe, La., on September 2004. I was engaged to my wife Helaine during that time. Crenchaw spoke at Philander Smith College. After his lecture, I greeted him and introduced myself. "If I knew you were going speak tonight, I would have brought my photo of the Tuskegee Airmen for you to autograph." (I'd received the photo from a press release about the Airmen when I wrote for the Monroe Free Press, one of two black weekly Monroe newspapers and where I was a columnist/reporter from 1989-2001.)

Crenchaw's good-natured reply: "The next time you come to an event like this where I am speaking ... you bet' not forget it, O.K.?"

"Oh, no sir! I will not forget," I told him.

But the next event we both attended, I forgot.

"Young man, where is your photo?" he asked when he saw me.

"Aaaah, I forgot it again!" I replied, chagrined. He shook his head and laughed ... and I laughed with him.

I did have the photo with me when Crenchaw spoke at a showing of the movie Red Tails, the story of the Airmen, at a theater in West Little Rock.

I walked up to him at the meet-and-greet session. "Finally, Mr. Crenchaw, I've got my photo of the Tuskegee Airmen for you to autograph."

He smiled. "It's about time, Mr. Williams ... Ha, ha!"

Afterward, Helaine and I got to know him very well. In 2012, we both had the opportunity to interview him at his home — Helaine for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, and I for The Empowerment Initiative and the former Emerald City of the South newspaper in Little Rock. It was after that interview that our relationship grew to the point where he was a father figure to us. Crenchaw shared so much with us about life, always emphasizing the importance of serving God and getting a good education.

He was also comical. One day, I asked him: "Do you still fly?"

"I am not insane," he quipped. There is a difference between being insane and being crazy. [And] I am not crazy [either]!"

I thank God for the time He allowed us to spend with Crenchaw. His influence, I feel, made me wiser and more spiritual. His spirit, just like all the other spirits I know are resting with the ancestors, sometimes elbows me in the ribs whenever I face tough times and become frustrated. His elbows are a little sharper ... so it doesn't take me long to snap out of my funk and say, "I gotta pop!"

Crenchaw as a Tuskegee Airman

Born in Little Rock on Jan. 13, 1919, Crenchaw was the first Arkansan to be successfully trained by the federal government as a civilian licensed pilot. He was documented as an original Tuskegee Airman. He overcame racism and bigotry to serve his country during World War II as a civilian flight instructor. Crenchaw was named Primary Flight Instructor in 1942 at Tuskegee Army Air Field in Tuskegee, Ala.

He taught many of the pilots and cadets known as the Tuskegee Airmen. Some notables among them were William T. Mattison, Charles Debow, Daniel "Chappie" James, Lt. Col. Charles "Chuck" Dryden, and fellow Arkansan Woodrow Crockett. Not only did Crenchaw serve at Tuskegee; he also served at Fort Sill in Oklahoma from 1953 to 1954, Camp Rucker (now Fort Rucker in Alabama) from 1954 to 1966, and Fort Stewart in Georgia from 1966 to 1972. While at Camp Rucker, Crenchaw conquered another first. He became the first black flight instructor on these predominately white airbases.

Crenchaw received accolades and recognition from many organizations. Presentations came from such dignitaries as former U.S. Congressman Vic Snyder and former President Bill Clinton. In 1988, Crenchaw was inducted into the Arkansas Aviation Hall of Fame. On March 27, 2007, he was honored by then-Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe for his historic efforts as a Tuskegee flight instructor and service to his country. Along with all who were a part of the "Tuskegee Experience" (1941-1949), Crenchaw was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal on March 29, 2007 by then-President George W. Bush.This is the highest civilian honor bestowed by Congress.

Crenchaw was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame on October 27, 2007. In 2009, he became an original lifetime honorary board member of the Milton Pitts Crenchaw Aviation Training Academy. He received an honorary doctorate from Arkansas Baptist College on May 2013.

Dr. Crenchaw with future aviators Niles and Jordan Stephenson

        Photo Credit: Aviate Through Knowledge          

              

Milton P. Crenchaw Aviation Training Academy: Providing Wings for Dreams

In 2009, a group of notable and dedicated Arkansas, led by Willie Smith, laid out a vision to establish an organization honoring Crenchaw. A 501(c)(3) organization, the Milton P. Crenchaw Aviation Training Academy (MPCATA) has as its mission to provide young people an opportunity to pursue aviation and aerospace careers. Since its inception, MPCATA's leadership has been committed to laying a solid foundation by establishing its strategic plan and securing resources to advance its mission.

As outlined in academy literature:

— MPCATA believes no child should have to forgo their dream to become a professional in the aviation and aerospace industry due to a lack of financial support.

— MPCATA works to identify and mentor students in underserved and disadvantaged communities in order to provide access to educational opportunities related to those particular industries. And today, the legacy continues.

The academy's programs consist of these elements:

Mentoring Cadets

MPCATA mentors and mentees work together to maintain communication, address and fix obvious problems as they as they occur, examine how decisions might affect goals, and have frequent discussions about expectations and progress.

Civilian Cadets

The MPCATA Civilian Cadets are middle and high school students who will become the pipeline for the next generation of aerospace careers. The MPCATA Civilian Cadet participates in programs designed using science, technology, engineering and math-based activities, including components that focus on life skills and community service.

Aviation and Aerospace Programs

In 2016, MPCATA launched its inaugural MPCATA Aviation Career Education (ACE) Academics in order to meet the growing need of developing a pipeline of talented students seeking careers in aviation and aerospace. Aviation Career Education (ACE) Academics are nationally recognized programs delivered in collaboration with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), military, commercial and other nonprofit organizations. MPCATA programs will continue to build a pipeline of ready talent, leveraging national and local collaborations and partnerships, aligned with educational resources of the Little Rock community and extending throughout the state of Arkansas.

MPCATA ACE Academy students receive academic instruction with emphasis on the practical uses of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics skills.

Falcon Jet Training Program

MPCATA works to partner with high schools and community groups to spread awareness about the Falcon Jet Training Program. Pulaski Technical College will offer training, free of charge, which may qualify participants for jobs at Dassault Falcon Jet, Little Rock. Applicants for entry-level positions must have a high school diploma or GED. Participants must exhibit strong and consistent lifestyle management skills and be highly motivated to learn. Participants will also be subject to random drug and screen tests.

Upon successful completion of the Pulaski Technical College training program, top-scoring participants will be considered for employment at Dassault Falcon Jet.

Cloverdale Middle School

This mission of Cloverdale Aerospace Technology Conversion Charter Middle School is to use research-based in instructional strategies to provide enrichment opportunities in aerospace science and technology through accelerated achievement and proficiency in literacy, mathematics and science.

Anyone interested in volunteering or contributing to MPCATA can contact the organization via email at info@mpcatayouth.org or call (501) 492-9019 for additional details. To learn more about MPCATA, visit mpcatayouth.org or "like" the academy on Facebook: facebook.com/Milton-P-Crenchaw-Aviation-Training-Academy.

Dambisa Moyo talks about global market shifts, business, and geopolitics

 

                                          Dr. Dambisa Moyo (Photo Credit: Niguel Valley)    

by Renarda A. Williams (aka Abari Sankofa)

More than 60 people were in attendance n Sturgis Hall of the Clinton School for Public Service to hear author and speaker Dambisa Moyo Feb. 4 in Little Rock, Arkansas.

A global economist from Lusaka, Zambia, Moyo examines the interplay of macroeconomics and international business with the global economy. She also highlights key opportunities for investment, capitalizing on her ability to translate trends in markets, politics, and economics into their likely impact on global business. She's the author of three New York Times best-selling books: Dead Aid: Why Aid is Not Working and How There is a Better Way for Africa; How the West Was Lost: Fifty Years of Economic Folly – And the Stark Choices that Lie Ahead; and Winner Take All: China’s Race for Resources and What it Means for the World.  Time Magazine named Moyo as one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World.”

Moyo holds a doctorate in economics from Oxford University, a master of public administration degree from Harvard University, and a master of business administration degree in finance from American University in Washington, D.C.

Moyo opened her lecture by talking about public policies — economics, politics, foreign policy, and health — that are challenges confronting the world today. She also focused on the important role the United States will play with its public policies; mainly because the world is watching to see what trends this country will set to get the world on the right path to survive for the years to come.

"The world is really depending on the United States in getting it right," Moyo said. "I was just in Dallas last week at the World Economic Forum. People are very worried because there is not much transparency on where the U.S. is going ... and they want to know what public policies might be instituted from the perspective of foreign policy, [war], radicalized terrorists around the world, health care, and technologies.

"It is essential that the United States get it right, or otherwise, the rest of the world [is going to be in a] precarious place," she added.

Moyo also discussed the need for countries such as China, United Kingdom, Germany and other major world powers to step up to the plate, along with the United States, and initiate their public policies to prevent the world from upheaval.

"I have to warn you ... the world is [is in] a depressing picture today. Unfortunately, the world's economy is in a precarious place. The International Monetary Fund in 2014 released their world outlook economic document ... They stated in the document that they do not believe that the world will ever began to see the rates of economic growth that we saw before 2007," Moyo stated.

After Moyo's lecture, The Empowerment Initiative Online Newsletter interviewed her about how  community grassroots involvement can play a vital role in solving public policy problems, and the role Black America, with its buying power of $1.3 trillion, can play in Africa.

Moyo said grassroots involvement is essential. Nobody knows the unique circumstances, context, and challenges that they're, or the person, are experiencing themselves.

"Government in Washington; my home country [Zambia]; whatever, may have some perspective" — but someone living in a county in Arkansas may have very different  issues and concerns, than somebody living in New York's Manhattan borough, Moyo said. "It is very hard to design a 'blanket policy' that works well for everybody. Therefore, the grassroots input is absolutely crucial to providing that context, and a unique element, that creates solutions that are very specific and designed to [help solve particular problems]."

There is clearly a role for government, Moyo said, citing the public projects from which people benefit, but for which they can't and don't pay for individually. She cited road construction as an example: People benefit from roads, but must pool their resources, through taxes, to pay for them.

But "coming back to the needs of community grassroots involvement, I think it is very important because there are a lot of ... unique solutions that emerge from unique problems," Moyo said. "I think we, in general, need to learn how to listen more and become less ideological. We [approach the problem] and think we know the answers. And yet we don't ask what is actually [happening] in the community ...  I think we don't listen enough and we talk too much!"
     
Moyo said there has been a long history of engagement between Black America and Africa — certainly on the political front, with the Civil Rights movement and the colonial period. Moyo believes there is a wide scope for inter-collectivity, where there is a lot of connection with the diaspora.

"I think one of the reasons why it has not done better is because Africa has tended to be characterized and depicted in a negativity way," she said. "And if we [Black America and Africa] responded to the story [from a constructive standpoint], there will be business opportunity engagement, political and economic development ... along with social and cultural inter-collectiveness."