Celebrate Black History! Make Black History!
By Ronda Watson Barber
Publisher
OhioMBE – Feb. 1, 2015
We celebrate Black History during the month of February. The accomplishments of African Americans is definitely something to celebrate. We will be posting great Black accomplishments on our Facebook and Twitter sites throughout the month.
Historian Carter G. Woodson established Negro History Week, which began Feb. 12, 1926. He scheduled it at that time to match up with the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and President Abraham Lincoln. In 1976, Negro History Week became Black History Month. President Gerald Ford urged the public to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”
What are you doing to make Black History?
Columbus Mayoral Race
It’s that time of the year again. Folks are campaigning to get your vote. The race for Columbus’ next mayor is important. After years of Michael Coleman’s tenure. A change is certainly needed, particularly where Black business are concerned.
I will be inviting the candidates to write an opt-ed highlighting why Black business owners should vote for them. The exception is City Council President Andrew Ginther. In the past, OhioMBE forwarded questions regarding minority business to Mr. Ginther. The responses forwarded were penned by someone else and they mirrored, in some cases word-for-word, what the other candidates whose campaign Ginther’s PAC finances said.
Mr. Ginther’s position on Black business is very telling. Quite simply he is NOT a friend of Black business. As council president he has funded programs that are merely diversity dog and pony shows and provide no substantial assistance to Black owned businesses who hire Black people. For example, he authorizes $50,000 a year funding for Diversity Bridge. The request is usually “emergency funding” The program isn’t meeting the goals it has stated on its website. The goal of this initiative is to create job opportunities and increase the wealth in the minority community. Diversity Bridge embraces strategies that will stimulate the creation and growth of minority owned businesses. In addition to minority racial/ethnic groups, Diversity Bridge programming also assists women and disadvantaged enterprises. The last updates to the site are from 2011. At present there are no bid opportunities posted. No events have been added to the calendar since November 2014. Very few iemails have been sent to members. What programming does Diversity Bridge sponsor? Does council monitor activities of the programs it funds? Are the taxpayers getting a high rate of return on this investment? Could a grassroots organization that provides services to minority and small businesses better benefitted from the funding or is Andy simply taking care of his friends at the expense of Black businesses?
Ginther was failed to authorized a study to demonstrate that the City of Columbus discriminates in its purchasing practices. He does continue to fund the City’s Equal Business Opportunity Office. The office has a budget of over $900,000. Over $800,000 is allocated for personnel and only $74,000 for services. The office is charged with processing applications for minority and female certifications. The certification is virtually useless, because the City of Columbus doesn’t have any purchasing goals. There aren’t any purchasing goals, because council hasn’t authorized a study. Again are the taxpayers getting a good rate of return?
The most blatant disrespectful act on the part of Ginther as it pertains to Black owned business is approving the construction pre-qualification law. The City of Columbus enacted new regulations for those involved with construction projects, beginning in 2015. The new pre-qualifications virtually removes Black owned construction firms from participating in tax-payer funded projects. In order to qualify to submit a bid, small businesses will be required to sign a union agreement or provide health and retirement benefits as well as operate an apprentice program. Black owned construction companies that were working on city owned projects are not be eligible to work on city owned projects in 2015, unless they implement the new initiatives. Ginther sided with labor unions over Black owned businesses. Ironically, few Blacks are in the unions.
Andy Ginther and his wealthy friends can run ads on television and radio every hour on the hour until the election. He has not earned the votes of Black owned business owners and the families they support. Actions speak louder than words.
Just my thoughts…
rwb
