Ricardo Lewis

Associate Editor

Five years ago Hurricane Katrina turned the city of New Orleans upside down. Many residents from the city have yet to return, and some have since made Tallahassee their new home.

“I stayed in New Orleans during the storm; the next day it was bright and sunny, then we lost power. A cop came by the hotel where I was staying with my mother and three children and told us the levees had been breached, and that we needed to leave. We left and went to my aunt’s house in Baton Rouge. All of my family was there, and it was kind of like a family reunion, until reality set in,” recalled 38-year-old Monica Varnado.

The weeks that followed were rough for Varnado. The flooding that consumed New Orleans and sent the nation into frenzy had left Varnado with nothing.

“My house was under water; all I had were the clothes on my back,” said Varnado. I was confused, in a state of shock; like this really happened to me!”

A friend of Varnado, who had moved to Tallahassee about a month before the storm, encouraged Varnado to come and stay with her. Varnado remained in Tallahassee, even after her friend moved back to New Orleans.

Varnado currently attends Tallahassee Community College, where she is enrolled in the pharmacy technician’s program. She said that she has visited New Orleans since the storm, but that she has no intentions of returning to the city that she once called home.

Latasha McDowell left New Orleans on the day before the storm. She called her mother and after some stern convincing, influenced her sister to leave as well. McDowell says that she figured more people would be headed west toward Houston, so she decided to head to Tallahassee where her godmother lived. Her father and brother-in-law decided to brave the storm; a decision they would soon regret.

“I did not hear from my father for ten days after the levees broke. He and my brother-in-law were together. We found out later that they had to swim to safety.”

According to McDowell, her 60-year-old father, a former member of the U.S. Navy, had to carry her brother-in-law on his back as they swam to higher ground because the brother-in-law could not manage the waters that had flooded the streets of New Orleans. The pair ended up on top of a neighbor’s roof where they were air-lifted to safety. During the airlift, the two men were separated. They both had been transported to the New Orleans Superdome. Five days into the tragedy, McDowell says that the family in Tallahassee finally heard from her brother-in-law, but they had yet to receive any contact from their father. The brother-in-law had run into another family member after being transported from the Superdome to the Astrodome in Houston, Texas. Later in the week her father ran into the same family member, while standing in line for shoes. He too had been transported to the Astrodome. McDowell’s father was reunited, through that family member, with the brother-in-law and was able to finally get in contact with the rest of the family.

Even in the face of such traumatic events, McDowell remained positive, enthusiastic and determined; even after almost losing her father.

“I don’t see it as a major catastrophe, because it has resulted in me receiving a lot of blessings,” said McDowell.

Following the hurricane, Mcdowell said that the outpouring of help from people, especially here in Tallahassee was almost unbelievable.

“The response of the people was overwhelmingly wonderful. I came from a city where it was every man for himself. I had to learn to be receptive of the help that people were offering me. From day one everyone was asking, ‘What can I do to help you?’ I learned that the human heart is the most beautiful thing that exists in my opinion,” McDowell said.

Since moving to Tallahassee, McDowell ran off a list of events that she considers blessings.

“London Town Apartment gave me free rent for nine months, TCC gave me free tuition for two semesters, the city of Tallahassee waved a deposit for me, and the Tallahassee Housing Authority found my parents a house in less than a month,” McDowell said.

One blessing that McDowell did not fail to mention sat beside her and reminisced about his own experience during Hurricane Katrina. Her husband Terrance McDowell was also a resident of New Orleans when the storm ravaged the city, although they did not meet until they had both relocated to Tallahassee.

“Katrina made me do something in one day that I had planned on doing for years, and that was come back home,” Terrance said. “My family and friends here helped me to get through it. They gave me spiritual guidance, and everything just fell into place.”

Terrance contends that the hurricane may have been a blessing in disguise for many of the residents in New Orleans.

“Before Katrina, there were a lot of people in the city that were suffering. The storm pushed people into a primitive state almost. They went from already suffering to relying on primitive instincts in order to live. Those people came together,” Terrance said.

Varnado agreed that New Orleans had major issues before the storm. She said that she is still praying for the city that she once called home.

“I want people to understand and remember that the struggle is not over. I go back to New Orleans, and I am saddened by the things I see. I heard someone describe the city as ‘dysfunctional’ before the storm. I just wonder will my city ever return back to a normal dysfunction,” Varnado said.

Youthful View

It was mid- 2007. I was an eighth grade student at Fairview Middle School. I had long considered the “man behind the baton” to be one of my most treasured heroes of Florida A&M University. I was always an avid reader of local newspapers when I came across the obituary of Mary Ann Foster, the wife of Dr. William P. Foster and a dedicated employee of Florida A&M University, who was long considered the university’s “band mother.”

Dr. Foster, known to many as America’s “Dean of Bands Directors,” and the founder of Florida A&M University’s famed “Marching 100,” passed away on the morning of Aug. 28. Dr. Foster was the director of bands at FAMU from 1946-1998. He was 91-years-old. After Mrs. Foster’s passing, I decided to wait a few months to visit the icon, who’s projected genius has long been a widely used household epitome. He had been a resident of the Centre Point Health Center for quite some time. I phoned Doc to insure it was ok. “You may come to visit me,” he responded in a weakened voice, though still in excellent health.

When I arrived in his room, Dr. Foster sat comfortably in his wheelchair, sporting a designer FAMU jacket. I explained to him that I was his biggest fan. He quickly responded: “Are you making good grades?” “Yes sir,” I said. He signed a photograph for me that I still have in my room. Suddenly, during our long and spirited talk, he began to cough uncontrollably. “You may have to come back when I am done with my coughing spasm,” he said. And that I did.

Dr. Foster’s passing, though at a very fulfilling age, is personal for me. He stormed onto the scene and for 52 years, he transformed the “Marching 100” into the number one collegiate marching band in America. A deep loss is being felt not only in the Tallahassee community but throughout the nation, as we are saddened by the answer of his heavenly father’s call, though satisfied that the 91 cherished years that he spent here on earth were filled with commitment and joy.

As a successful high school student, Dr. Foster became interested in musical education. His desire to become a director of bands, stemmed in part from the determination of the man himself, who wouldn’t take no for an answer. After being told that he couldn’t join his college marching band because of his color and to forget about his dream of directing because there were no such jobs for African- Americans, Dr. Foster quickly proved his teacher wrong.

He became director of bands for Fort Valley State College after earning recognition as a choir director in Missouri. Later, he became director of bands and orchestra at Tuskegee Institute, before matriculating to Florida A&M University. Highly recognized on the national level with Dr. Foster at the helm, FAMU’s marching band has appeared on several nationally syndicated television programs, been mentioned in magazines and newspapers, performed in France for the French Bicentennial and at three presidential inaugurations, including that of President Obama, under the tutelage of current director Dr. Julian White.

Perhaps his fame originated when Dr. Foster coined the 90-degree knee-lift marching style, which is imitated throughout the country. Dr. Foster is the author of a college textbook for band etiquette and “The Man Behind the Baton,” the story of his life. He has been given numerous awards and honors, including induction into the National Association for Distinguished Band Conductors, the Florida Artists Hall of Fame, the Afro-American Hall of Fame and the Florida Music Educators Association. Other honors include the naming of the Foster- Tanner Fine Arts Complex and Foster-Tanner Drive.

He is survived by sons Anthony and William P. Foster, Jr.

Marian Wright Edelman

NNPA Columnist

Children have only one childhood and it is right now. Millions of children in our nation require emergency attention in our recession ravaged economy as poverty, including extreme child poverty, hunger, and homelessness have increased, if irreparable harm is not to be inflicted on them and on our nation’s future.

The greatest threat to America’s national security comes from no enemy, but from our failure to protect, invest in and educate all of our children who make up all of our futures. Every 11 seconds of every school day, a high school student drops out of school; every 32 seconds, a baby is born into poverty; every 41 seconds, a child is confirmed abused or neglected; every 42 seconds, a baby is born without health insurance; every minute, a baby is born to a teen mother; every minute, a baby is born at low birth-weight; every three hours, a child or teen is killed by a firearm. A majority of children in all racial and income groups cannot read or do math at a fourth grade, eighth or 12th grade level. Over 80 percent of black and Hispanic children cannot read or compute at grade level. These numbers are a moral travesty, and an impending national disaster requiring priority attention at the highest level of decision making.

If the foundation of your house is crumbling, you don’t say you cannot afford to fix it. Children are the foundation of America’s future. We need to invest now in their health, early childhood development and education. Today is tomorrow.

Children are the poorest age group, and the younger children are, the poorer they are. We rank highest among industrialized nations in relative child poverty and in the gap between rich and poor, which is the highest ever recorded in America. In the 1960’s, when the economy was expanding, about two-thirds of the nation’s income gains went to the bottom 90 percent of U.S. households. In the first half of this decade, it was just the opposite: the wealthiest one percent reaped two-thirds of the income gains. In 2007, the income share for the wealthiest 10 percent of households, 49.74 percent, was the highest ever recorded. It is obscene for anyone to advocate for continuing the unjust Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans at a time of economic downturn, and escalating child poverty and budget deficits.

Where is our anti-poverty movement at a time when one in 50 Americans, according to a New York Times front page story, has no cash income? “Almost six million Americans receiving food stamps report they have no income. They have described themselves as unemployed and receiving no cash, no welfare, no unemployment insurance and no pensions, child support or disability pay. About one in 50 Americans now lives in a household with a recorded income that consists of nothing but a food stamp card,” the New York Times’ Jason DeParle reported.

This shocking New York Times article provoked no public outcry, action or shame. It did not stop most Republican political leaders from trying to block or resist extension of unemployment insurance, investing more federal dollars in creating jobs, expanding tax credits for working families desperately trying to feed, house and clothe their children, or investing more in stimulating an economy slowly struggling to recover with 14.6 million workers still unemployed, and massive state deficits which will cause more job loss. How morally obscene it is that a nation with a GDP exceeding $14 trillion cannot find the will, common sense and decency to provide a safety net to protect its over 14 million poor children—the number before the recession, which is expected to push millions more children into poverty and extreme poverty, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Brookings Institution. Now is the time to correct the laissez-faire federal policies that enabled the few to run roughshod over the life savings of many hard working Americans, and wreck the lives and dreams of millions of children.

Marion Wright Edelman is president of the Children’s Defense Fund whose Leave No Child Behind mission is to ensure every child a healthy start, a head start, a fair start, a safe start and a moral start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities. For more information go to www.childrensdefense.org.

Gary L. Flowers

NNPA Columnist

Much as the Emmett Till murder did 55 years ago, Hurricane Katrina pulled back the cultural curtains and revealed the intersecting roads of race and poverty in the United States of America. In both cases, America’s egalitarian myth of civility to all her citizens was shattered by the photo of Till’s open casket in Chicago (Jet Magazine) and news images (CNN) of African-Americans treated as animals and “refugees” in New Orleans.

Before and after Hurricane Katrina, the city of New Orleans has been a case study in the oppressive confluence of race and poverty on African-Americans. Prior to Katrina, New Orleans had the highest percentage of public housing residents in the nation, many of whom were allowed to live in poorly policed, sub-standard living conditions.

Three days before the Category 5 hurricane named Katrina came ashore from the Gulf of Mexico, those who could evacuate from New Orleans made plans to do so. However, the most vulnerable citizens—nearly all Black and elderly—were left to negotiate the storm and its aftermath on their own. Despite the presence of a fleet of public buses, no provision was made to direct poor people of pigment to higher ground. With no credible evidence, city officials would later contend that the black poor ignored directions to evacuate because the storm arrived at the end of the month and two days before government (public assistance, social security) checks arrived. Fact is, there were no buses deployed, and the fleet became submerged under water.

With no plans for the poor, the days immediately following Katrina and the levees were compromised. Black students at Xavier and Dillard University were stranded in dormitories. In fact, while vice president to Reverend Jesse Jackson and Rainbow PUSH Coalition, I remember assisting in rescuing African-American students with the help of privately funded buses.

As people found their way to the New Orleans Superdome and Morial Convention Center, no guidance or direction was provided by city and state officials. Predictably, conditions worsened, and over 1,300 people died (by official numbers); some African-American men were shot by police for attempting to flee to the higher ground of Jefferson Parrish. There was no government for the people. People were treated as animals.

In the ensuing weeks, state officials refused to utilize vacant military bases within Louisiana and forcibly relocated the black poor to 44 states around the nation.

Predictably, according to a report by the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center, five years after Katrina, New Orleans is a smaller and richer city per capita. Duh: most of the poor were removed.

In fact, today:

• The nearly all-black Lower Ninth Ward seems conspicuously passed over for reconstruction

• Louisiana residents remain located in 55,000 cities across the nation (59% of who are female headed families

• There has been a 75 percent reduction in the number of public housing apartments available (formerly 98 percent African-American)

• 5,000 people remain on a waiting list for public housing

• 28,000 people remain on a waiting list for public housing vouchers

• 58 percent of New Orleans’ renters pay more than 35% of their pre-tax household income for housing

• The number of public school students (90% African-American) have decreased by half

For those who contend that race did not play a major factor I say: seriously?

Truth be told, if the students, residents and poor in need were white, the federal, state, and local government would have treated them better. Moreover, if private real estate developers had not influenced government policy decisions, more people of color would have returned to their homes in New Orleans (see Washington Post 08-22-10).

Therefore, the Black Leadership Forum, led by the Hip Hop Caucus will return to New Orleans on Sunday, August 29—the fifth-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina—to raise righteous voices of indignation for the right of return and the rebuilding of housing for the poor.

For more information visit www.HipHopCaucus.org or email Darryl Perkins at Darry@HipHopCaucus.org. Join us.

Gary Flowers is executive director and CEO of the Black Leadership Forum.

Ricardo Lewis

Associate Editor

The Marching 100 will carry heavy hearts onto the field tonight as the FAMU community mourns the passing of legendary band director Dr. William P. Foster at the age of 91.

Foster is credited with revolutionizing marching bands in America with the innovative marching styles, and mouth dropping dance performances. The manifestations of Foster’s genius have been exemplified through Florida A&M University’s Marching band since he became the director of bands at the university in 1946. Other marching bands often duplicate the 90 degree marching style Foster created as a part of the Marching 100’s performances. According to a press release issued by the Florida A&M University, Foster created more than 30 techniques that have now become standard procedure for high school and college bands nationwide.

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of Dr. Foster,” said FAMU President James H. Ammons. “As a visionary leader, he built America’s greatest band by departing from the standard routines and maneuvers to showcase band pageantry. I can attest to the fact that what he created was magical,” in the press release issued by the university.

Dr. Foster retired as in 1998 after serving 52 years in the FAMU music department. He received numerous awards during his tenure including winning the Sudler Intercollegiate Marching Band Trophy in 1985 becoming the first and currently the only Historically Black College and University band to win the coveted award.

A memorial service is scheduled for Friday, September 3, at 6 p.m. The FAMU music department will perform a concert of musical tribute to Dr. Foster on Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. The funeral for Dr. Foster is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 4, at 11 a.m. all three events will take place in Lee Hall on the Campus of Florida A&M University. In lieu of flowers, donations are requested to be made to the “William P. and Mary Ann Foster Endowed Scholarship Fund” at FAMU in support of FAMU band scholarships.

Band members often use the term “Hubba” to recognize outstanding performance and in describing their beloved Dr. Foster. On behalf of the staff of the Capital Outlook, for all of your hard work and efforts in helping to mold the standard for marching bands, helping to shape Florida A&M University and leaving a lasting impression on the city of Tallahassee and the world, HUBBA DOC!!!

JAYLEN CHRISTIE
Contributing Writer

Senators and congressmen are a dime a dozen. What began in 1789 has now surpassed 200 years and has become something of a calling card for the United States government. Named after the ancient Roman Senate, the U.S. Senate is the current home of 59 Democratic members, 41 Republican members and if Kendrick Meek has his way, it will soon become his domicile as well.

Meek, a 1989 graduate of Florida A&M University, has been a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives since 2003. Succeeding his mother, Congresswoman Carrie Meek, who retired from the seat, Meek represents Florida’s 17th congressional district and is now a candidate in the 2010 Senate elections for the Senate seat which is no longer occupied by Mel Martinez.

While the eventual outcome of the election is uncertain, some locals think that Meek is the ideal man for the job. Alfonso Lowry, a Tallahassee native, said he thinks Meek is pretty solid. “Kendrick Meek is definitely a really strong Democratic candidate,” said Lowry, a graduate of Morehouse College. “He’s pretty much toeing the line for all of the issues that are pretty hot right now [such as] off shore drilling. He’s against it. He should do a really good job if he’s elected. He’s really going to have to kick it up a notch, if he wants to win in the general election because he hasn’t been as effective in getting his message out.”

Kiffani Jones couldn’t agree more. A local English teacher and graduate of FAMU, Jones said Meek needs to learn how to get out there and meet people. “You just can’t be a senator and tell people to vote for you. You have to talk to people–and not just people with money. Look at Barack Obama. That man spoke with everybody and secured his position in the White House.”

Meek’s definitely has the experience to become the state’s next senator. Born in Miami, he served in the Florida House of Representatives from 1995 to 1998 and in the Florida Senate from 1999 to 2002. He has a strong interest in issues pertaining to education, energy, and immigration. Meek has gone on the record saying he is against offshore drilling.

“It’s time to put an end to any and every misguided attempt to drill offshore and put Florida’s coasts and economy at risk. Any effort to revive offshore drilling needs to be stopped dead in its tracks,” said Rep. Kendrick Meek in a statement on his website. In the last month, Meek has traveled across the state by bus to get his message out and drum up support for this campaign, even bringing out former President Bill Clinton to persuade voters that he is the right person to represent Florida in the U.S. Senate.

Meek faces stiff competition from Independent candidate and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and Republican candidate and state Senator Marc Rubio. Historically, voter turnout during midterm elections has been low. Less than 25 percent of the electorate has turned out to vote in the last five primary election cycles, African- Americans comprise 25 percent of Florida’s voters.

“It’s going to be hard for him to win in Florida because we tend to be conservative,” Lowry said. “I think he is on to the right ideas. He just has to get his message out there and tell people,” he said. Today’s victory will put Meek on a historic path that few blacks have accomplished. If Meek succeeds in winning Florida’s U.S. Senate seat in the general election, he would become the state’s first African-American to represent the state in the Senate.

Special to the Outlook

Florida A & M University (FAMU) alumna Angelique S.C. Grant, Ph.D., executive director of major gifts for the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, has been selected for a Fulbright award from the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. As a recipient, she will participate in the 2010 Fulbright Seminar for U.S. Administrators in International Education conducted by the Fulbright Commission in Berlin, Germany, in October 2010. Fulbright scholars help to foster mutual understanding between Americans and people of the more than 150 countries that participate in the program.

“I thought about the Fulbright program for years and now I have the opportunity to participate,” said Grant. “It is a distinguished honor to be selected for such a prestigious program.” Grant, who was one of the 25 academicians selected from the United States, is scheduled to travel to Berlin, and other cities in Germany, and provide feedback on their respective individualized areas of expertise.

Grant, who earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism from FAMU in 1992, has more than 15 years of institutional advancement experience as it relates to higher education including fundraising, alumni relations, community relations, marketing and communications.

“Academia is a journey,” said Grant. “FAMU has this unique way of rapidly preparing students for real world experiences – both in and outside of the classroom. I thoroughly enjoyed my FAMU experience. I can proudly say that FAMU graduates are tenacious and possess strong communication and leadership skills.”

Courtesy of Florida A&M University’s Public Relation Office

RICARDO LEWIS
Associate Editor

Tuesday marked the end of primary elections in Tallahassee and the surrounding areas, but for some local politicians the campaigning is not quite over. In one of the most spirited races of this election season, political newcomer Krisitin Dozier managed to receive more votes than her incumbent opponent Bob Rackleff in the race for Leon County Commission District 5. The two candidates are headed to a runoff in the upcoming November election because a candidate must receive greater than 50 percent of the vote to win the election outright.

Dozier only received 46 percent of the vote while Rackleff received 35 percent and the third candidate for the seat received 19 percent of the vote. In the race for Circuit Judge, Circuit 2 District 9, Karen Gievers and Barbara Hobbs will continue their competition in the November elections. Gievers finished the night with around 29 percent of the votes and Hobbs finished with 27 percent. Gievers and Hobbs were the top two candidates in the race for the Circuit 2 District 9 Judge’s seat. Three other candidates were also vying for the post, but only the top two will compete in the runoff election.

Nick Maddox will continue his quest to challenge incumbent Cliff Thaell for his seat as Leon County Commissioner, At- Large. Maddox came in second in the race which had four candidates, with 23 percent of the vote. Thaell led the voting with 41 percent. Early results from the myflorida election watch website showed that Rick Scott had edged out Bill McCollum in his bid to be the republican representative in the race for governor. Scott and McCollum have been in a heated battle for the Republican nod in the past several months. Scott edged out McCollum, who currently serves as Florida’s Attorney General by a margin of three percent of the vote; McCollum having 43 percent to Scott’s 46 percent. Scott will face Democrat Alex Sink in the general election for governor.

Sink won the primary race for the Democratic party by obtaining a landslide 77 percent of the vote over Brian Moore who finished with only 23 percent. Bill Montford beat out former state representative Curtis Richardson in the race for the state senate seat being vacated by term limited Sen. Al Lawson. Montford will face John Shaw and David Abrams for the District 6 senate seat in the general election.

Kirk Headly-Purdue won the Republican primary for state representative District 9 beating Ann Yorko. Purdue will likely face opposition from a Democratic candidate in what is considered to be a democratic favored voting district in the November elections.

Marco Rubio received the republican nod for the U.S. Senate general election. Rubio’s win coupled with Kendrick Meek’s defeat of billionaire Jeff Green in the Democratic primary, sets up one of the most anticipated races of the general election. Both Rubio and Meek will face current Florida Governor Charlie Crist in the general election. Crist decided to run as an independent earlier this year.

Harry C. Alford

NNPA Columnist

Beyond the Rhetoric

The terms Green Jobs and Green Business have been used millions of times over the last few years. President Obama even created a position of Director of Green Jobs (now inactive).

I asked that Green Jobs guru just what is a green job and he never fully explained it to me. Such is the case with this new concept. No one has stopped to adequately define it or declare what is and is not a green job. Thus, there is much confusion and an atmosphere for opportunists to claim that their way or method is the correct process in hopes of making quick money or gaining new power. The whole thing is a mess, and we need much direction.

However, there is certainty that new ways of harnessing and creating energy are coming quickly and that efforts to protect or improve our environment are mandatory for a safe future. Therefore, the National Black Chamber of Commerce has decided to take a leadership position in this arena. Our definition of a green business is: An enterprise interacting in the “Energy Efficiency Industry” and offers environmental protection or improvement. Alternative energy, renewable energy, clean energy, reduction of carbon emissions and energy reduction are key examples of what this is all about.

Green jobs are simply those occupations that are directly related to the above enterprise activity. One of our members has a product that will reduce energy consumption of air conditioners. It improves the cooling output and reduces the energy costs involved in the process. This is an energy business and those producing the products and selling them are energy employees. That is, they are in a green business and employed in green jobs.

We have another member who will be putting huge turbines into the Mississippi River to harness the natural water currents and transform that energy into electrical power for utility plants along the river from Louisiana to Illinois. This will be a form of renewable energy. It is a green business, and those employees involved in this effort from beginning to end have green jobs.

Five years ago, we had no one in the solar energy business. Now, there are hundreds of such companies, and more than a few are doing $100 million or more in sales per year and have yet to slow their growth. Green businesses are growing by leaps and bounds and creating more green jobs. To say this is super exciting would be an understatement. Yes, we are more than “knee deep” in the green business/green job sectors. All of a sudden we desire to be a key resource in it. Right now, we are constructing a viable partnership with key principals in this arena.

Our mission: to illustrate that our partnership will help create jobs by ensuring minority participation in the Recovery Act (Stimulus Bill) “Retrofit Ramp-up” grant. This partnership will also help leverage a robust training initiative to upgrade skills and certifications, making minority contractors more marketable and successful in future initiatives. We are going to formally teach weatherization skills (housing and commercial) to individuals. We will be targeting public housing residents and those living under the poverty level. We are going to gift them with skills that will increase their potential for employment for the rest of their lives. We are going to provide certification courses for our up and coming entrepreneurs in subjects such as LEED and the federal ENERGY STAR performance requirements. The businesses will become ready for contracts and will hire the workforce we simultaneously will be preparing for them.

Black folks, this is our great opportunity to catch onto this at the beginning phase. We want thousands of businesses ready for the transformation to Green Businesses and hundreds of thousands of workers trained and ready to be employed by them. Housing, commercial buildings, public entities such as schools, city, county, state and federal buildings are there waiting to be weatherized, audited and enhanced for energy efficiency and environmental stewardship. If we do this thing right, it can become a great equalizer in our current anemic economic status.

We are going to start immediately in the state of Virginia. From there we will stretch out into the Southeastern United States (Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida and Louisiana). After successfully penetrating these geographical areas, we will move across the United States.

Our Energy Committee will be assigned this mission. Look out, green businesses and green jobs are coming to your neighborhood, and the National Black Chamber of Commerce is leading the way. Those wanting more information on this initiative or to see when it will be coming to your community can inquire at info@nationalbcc.org or go to the NBCC website at www.nationalbcc.org, or ask your local black chamber if it is affiliated with the NBCC.

Alford is the co-founder, President/CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce, Inc®. Website: www.nationalbccorg. Email: halford@nationalbcc.org.