November 13, 2014
By Wellington E. Webb
NNPA Guest Columnist
Now that the dust has settled after our nation’s 2014 elections across the country, here is my two cents worth on what has happened during the last couple of years, and what it means now.
First and foremost, congratulations to the National Republican Committee. They had a 50-state plan, and they implemented their plan with dogmatic discipline and with little or no deviation by candidates, or state strategists’ preferences.
During the election, I was in four different states and heard the same theme uttered from Republican candidate to Republican candidate in all four of them: “This Democratic candidate “X” voted 99 percent of the time with Obama. This Democratic candidate “Y” voted with Obama 92 percent of the time.” This theme resonated in every state that I visited. It was clear that this strategy was initiated at the highest levels of the Republican Party and was expected to be carried out in every race in the country where there was a Republican candidate who had served in an elected position and there was an opportunity to line up on the “Republican side” of issues or on the “Obama side” of issues in the forefront of the American people.
In my home state of Colorado, I was afraid that we Democrats were going to lose the U.S. Senate race, the governor’s race, and the majority hold to both chambers of the Colorado legislature. My having served on the most recent Colorado Reapportionment Commission in 2010, where we crafted the districts based upon access to a fair process for candidates from each predominant party, I thought that the House and the Senate of Colorado were competitive but with a positive edge of advantage to Democrats in that Democrats had been at a disadvantage up to 2010.
However, given the lack of passion for the principles for which many Democratic elected officials coupled with victories on other issues over the past six years, two days before the 2014 midterm election, I was fearful that we were going to lose it all in Colorado. Our Democratic base did not vote its winning capacity, and the Republican ground game was also better than ours. Of the political consultants the Democratic Party had hired very few, if any, minority consultants were contracted to fill in their blind spots on data mining for voters. This same unsuccessful strategy model was applied on Amendment 66 in Colorado as well.
Unfortunately, we Democrats had little to no respect for, and therefore almost invisible identification with, the accomplishments of President Obama, who had accumulated a litany of successes. We, as Democrats, should have been proud of and owned up to our record of sterling accomplishments from 2008 to 2014: Gasoline prices are down, unemployment is down, health care accessibility is available to all, and, we even justifiably assassinated Osama Bin Laden. Not once, did we mention one Democratic success. This omission was the most shameful outcome of this 2014 election.
We ran away from our successes – and Republicans fought against them, even though our efforts improved the lives of Americans. We should have been talking about everything from increasing the minimum wage across the nation to fighting to protect Medicare and Social Security and providing a national security plan to protect America. But we didn’t. Shame on us Democrats for not amplifying our improvements to the country.
Elections are cyclical, and if we don’t have a message that resonates at the national level, the state level, and to the legislative level, we Democrats, will be a minority party and our nation’s minorities will be shoved back into the shadows of not mattering once again. The Democratic Party’s national leaders are going to have to broaden their consultant base to include younger pundits and more minorities into their think tanks for successful elections in the future.
Lastly, mail ballots work better for higher income level voters than for middle and lower level income voters. As columnist George Will once asked, “In our democracy, is it too much to ask for voters to go to the polls to vote in person?” I think not.
Wellington Webb served as mayor of Denver from 1991-2003. He is the only mayor in U.S. who has served as president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, president of the National Conference of Black Mayors, and president of the National Conference of Democratic Mayors.
November 06, 2014
By Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr.
NNPA Columnist
Black Americans are blessed, not cursed. I say that because it is true and verifiable. As a people we are blessed with intellectual genius, creativity, ingenuity and a vast multitalented reservoir of human resources, energy and spirit. Of course all people are blessed with unique as well as universal blessings of humanity. But, I am so thankful for the special and revealed blessings of Black America, I just cannot keep silent when I am exposed to Black American genius and brilliance.
What am I talking about now?
It was the 9th Annual Taste of Soul 2014 Family Festival on the historic Crenshaw Boulevard, located in the heart of South Central Los Angeles. I witnessed firsthand how more than 400,000 sisters and brothers from near and far stood together for nearly 10 hours on October 18, 2014. It was an inspiring day. It was a revival of the soul of America. It was, from my perspective, a glimpse of heaven on earth.
The gathering was inter-generational. People of all ages and all ethnicities came out in massive crowds to enjoy, celebrate and to reaffirm the mutual respect and dignity of all the communities that make up the city of Los Angeles. The “Taste of Soul” tasted good not only for those assembled, but for all the others who had immersed themselves in the very orderly and peaceful family festival.
More than 300 independent, Black-owned and other businesses were lined up and down Crenshaw, participating in one of the largest and most successful annual street festivals in America. As a long-time community organizer, I know from experience that successful events like the Los Angeles “Taste of Soul,” do not just happen through osmosis. It takes a lot of hard and smart work.
It takes the serious commitment of a dedicated group of planners, corporate sponsors, elected officials, civic and community leaders, entrepreneurs and grass roots businesses, together with media and entertainment legends, led in this instance by the single visionary leadership of Danny J. Bakewell, Sr. Brother Danny is the executive publisher and CEO of the Los Angeles Sentinel and the L.A. Watts Times. He is also the former chairman of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) and an outstanding global business leader of the Bakewell Company, a family-owned group of businesses.
“Taste of Soul” was both a local and a national success story. At a time when there has been a lot of focus of the injustices that continue to be perpetrated on too many of our brothers and sisters in Black America, this was a much needed therapeutic national day of Black American unity, joy, passion and spiritual empowerment. Yet, we also affirmed during the “Taste of Soul” the necessity for further expansion of the economic development and progress of our families, businesses and communities.
Corporate leaders must understand that the sponsorship and partner support of major national events in Black America are in fact important to how the Black American community views their businesses. It was good to see General Motors, and in particular its Buick division, as a key sponsor of “Taste of Soul,” as well as sponsorships from Toyota, Bank of America and others.
For me, the real appraisal happened in real time when Danny Bakewell Sr asked me to join him in walking Crenshaw. It was amazing to see up close how entire family members were navigating through the crowds. Many sisters had baby carriages and were welcomed by courteous brothers who routinely parted the way so that these mothers could pass through the mass of people with a respectful ease. Thousands came up to Bakewell to say, “Thank you for doing this. We needed to come together.” Others affirmed, “Wow, this is great. So much unity….so much love and peace.”
Yes, the food was sumptuous. Queen Latifah was the “Celebrity Chairperson” of the festival and she received tremendous rounds of applause from the audience at each of the festival stages. The “Taste of Soul” was our nation at its best. Let’s have that kind of unity and self-respect on each day of the year. Let’s continue the struggle for freedom, justice and equality. Long live the spirit and legacy of Taste of Soul.”
Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. is the president and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) and can be reached for national advertisement sales and partnership proposals at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ; and for lectures and other professional consultations at: http://drbenjaminfchavisjr.wix.com/drbfc