For the Sake of Aaron: Celebrating Our Black Men |
"Men for All Seasons" by Charles Bibbs
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Gerard Randall
Headlines: The Workforce of the Future. Jobs That Meet Current Needs. Jobs With Good Wages. Minimum Wage Increases. The Rust Belt Syndrome. Stimulating Per Capita Income. Improving Schools, Quality Education and Income. Along with these headlines are multiple articles about utilizing Milwaukee’s academic institutions to prepare its citizenry for jobs, as well as, medical technology and information technology demands, and vocational training versus professional training.
Jobs, job training, placement and expanded employment opportunities have been the principle focus of Gerard Randall, president and chief executive officer of the Private Industry Council (PIC), for eight-and-one-half years now. The Job Training Partnership Act of 1982 created the structure for increased educational opportunities for those disproportionately affected by unemployment and underemployment.
Then, in 1998, the act was reformulated under the Workforce Investment Act and the Workforce Development Council was created. PIC exists under these auspices and Gerard Randall, our honoree, this week, has been guiding the ship since its inception.
Born in Chicago, Illinois, one of four children, Gerard came to Milwaukee for the quality education at Marquette University, in 1971. Before graduation from high school, he applied to over one dozen schools. Marquette was the first to respond with acceptance and "my mother said: "That’s where you are going to go," he chuckled. "I consider Milwaukee my home. I never regretted my decision to come here and I cherish my education, friends and associates, and the strong, intelligent, creative, ambitious men who were a part of my campus experience," he boasts.
Friends like Michael Francis, MD; Burt Simpson, a lawyer; Maurice Lucas; George Frazier; Bo Ellis; Ulyce Payne and Dr. Howard Fuller, who led Marquette’s Equal Opportunity Program, were role models for Gerard and remain an integral part of his network.
"I marvel at the success of my contemporaries today, including Congresswoman Gwen Moore, one of the women at the time that I was there. This experience added to my refinement, enhanced my ability to move into middle class status. It created new opportunities that not going to college simply would not permit."
"Most of us meet our spouses in college. Our peers, who help us find jobs, meet new people who influence other people and organizations that we need to know, as we progress, typically begin in the college years. It is imperative that our youngsters understand that college is more than just books and study. College is a lifestyle that supports our future lives, as much if not more than our families, and childhood friends. College graduation dictates what we have accomplished and determines to a great extent who we will become. It labels you "capable." he said.
"Capable" means many common experiences. It affects our job, what we are able to purchase, where we live, what schools our children will attend. Statistics reveal that those who complete college, the proverbial middle class, vote more, are involved in positive community activities, usually volunteer or donate to help support the community. They are able to focus on things beyond themselves because their basic needs are not in jeopardy."
With these demographic assets direct benefits of college education, it is easy to understand why our community is frozen in development. And, regrettably, until we become as determined to get post high school education as we were in the 1950s, ’60s and early ’70s, we shall continue to witness the devastation associated with underemployment.
Resultant negative statistics, such as, crime, premature pregnancies; low-birth rates, disparities in health, housing, and over average criminalization due to drug use, and prison confinements will continue to overwhelm us.
We need the college education and post college degrees to catapult us into middle class status. "Two year programs are superb for beginning the education process but the jobs of the future, the demands of middle class status, including its values and expectations, necessitate the four-year college experience or university," Gerard expounds.
PIC has been fostering these tenets since its creation. The manufacturing jobs after World War II had gone the way of the dinosaur, there were insufficient numbers to employ large numbers immediately after high school. And, for those who dropped out and failed to complete high school, they began a process of devaluation that limited the jobs available to them, their pay, and the lifestyle they can afford. Also, statistics reveal that a perpetually restricted economic class are often "last hired and first fired." This creates an impoverished lifestyle for multiple generations unless one breaks the cycle of low employability.
Gerard Randall, continues, "our community will never look the way it is supposed to look without education. Educated voters systematically decipher issues and determine how to address the issues, intelligently. The higher the education levels, the more we see the arts, culture, and the theatre.
Typically the informed view their lives optimistically, and their economic picture, including investments and savings, are viewed enthusiastically. They believe they have a purpose in life and live their lives fulfilling that purpose."
Randall comes from a background of teaching, so he has tenured professional experience in building an educated population. He taught for three-and-one-half years at Dominican High School before going to Milwaukee Public School’s Bell Middle School, where he taught for six years.
"I loved teaching," he shares, "I still see some of my former students today, and I revel at their accomplishments. Of course, a few a struggling, but in each case, those kids lacked the support system to help them traverse the difficulties. And, often the same can be said today. The kids who have support achieve. Those who have disadvantages are locked into the same cycle of non-graduation, low-paying jobs, confrontations with the criminal justice system, prison or even death. The outcomes are almost predictable!"
Private Industry Council believes in the importance of education, attaining goals and transferring those benefits to children. "This is what PIC promotes for our clients, students and participants," Gerard explained.
Parental lethargy or passivity and its negative affects on education were examined. Creating the study environment, and the schedule that supports homework, test preparation, followed by acknowledgment for successes, were described as proactive parenting skills. Supportive parents initiate expectations and transfer them to their children. And, children with this support typically demonstrate success in their classes, leading to graduation and most often college or university.
He described the direct correlation between work, work ethics and the desire to elevate the family’s income and financial status, with academic success in the classroom. These by-products play out in attitude, focus and consistent completion of homework by the students.
Gerard Randall has multiple theories about the rapid transition from high academic aspirations to low retention rates and decreasing high school graduations. "The Great Society Programs of President Lyndon Johnson promoted welfare as the mode of uplifting families in the 1960s, and ’70s. By the mid 1980s, these subsidies and poverty-level government programs paid people when they were not working. In the 21st century, we have tried to re-collect ourselves and re-establish education, jobs and personal aspirations as the way to elevate ourselves. It will take time! For several generations, forty plus years, far too many people did not have that notion of work."
"We believe that the best way to grow in a job is to take a job! In the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan dismantled all of the Great Society Programs, but there were no parachutes, no transitional period, so the nation was forced to again look at what do we now do. PIC is a part of that transition process. I am challenged to take the zeal of my education days and transfer it to creating parachutes for those who did not make education a major plan for growing oneself and elevating their families," he explained.
So the Private Industry Council has a major involvement schools. Their mission is to take people where they are and train them for jobs, jobs that can lead to better employment opportunities. Milwaukee has major local educational facilities, so the nucleus for advance education is in place. PIC also has the counselors who can guide clients to current jobs, jobs of the immediate future and even make projections about the jobs of the future. So the challenge is to get people enrolled and guarantee their movement up the academic ladder.
Speaking with pride about PIC, Randall shares, "we have 70 employees, who work with minimally 1,500 people, weekly, through our Career Center. Over 500 youth access services at the Career Centers. Our Step Up Program helps youngsters remain in school. Then the Reach Program takes youngsters who have already dropped out and provides job training. We also have the Jobs for Wisconsin Program that works with graduates and helps them with added training for better jobs."
He further described how the programs are making a difference. "Seventy percent of graduates from high school go on to college or into the job market in the Step Up Program. In the Reach Program, PIC in partnership with Kilmer High School, has witnessed increased graduations from the 27th Street Campus and continuation into more training or schooling. Jobs for Wisconsin has had impressive successes, somewhere near 90%. And, PIC has provided assistance for over 500 youngsters for the ACT test. Last year, MPS had 1,800 students to take the ACT test, of that number 500 came from the PIC programs.
"Companies that continue to work with PIC in job openings include, Aurora Health; Manpower; Roundy’s Foods; along with Gilbane under the Urban Trade Partnership Initiative, one of their original partners. Gruneau Construction; Potawatomi; Johnson Controls; Jenerach in Waukesha and recently Briggs and Stratton are added employment sources for PIC. Eight dollars plus jobs are the targeted wage levels for the successful participants in the programs. Of course, college grads, those who continue their academic climbs, are demanding more."
Forecasting the significance of PIC in the employment picture, Randall said, "we all have to be concerned about the educational gap and successfully eliminating the vast disparities. The Milwaukee Association of Black School Educators and MPS must be united in making sure that the kids are at grade level in reading, math, writing, so that they can access the jobs that are available. The applicants must be able to read, respond to the questions and successfully complete the applications."
Continuing, he said, "manufacturing jobs are not dead. Recently there has been a resurgence of small engine manufacturing at places like Bucyrus Erie and Briggs and Stratton, but some of the issues that affect us are things like driver’s licenses, the applicants have to have current licenses. These jobs demand transportation. And, of course, the major deterrents, that even the national news is exposing, are things such as teen pregnancies, recycling of ex-offenders, and added drug recovery programs. We are partners with Word of Hope Ministries, that is working hard to reduce recidivism and get ex-offenders employed. We are committed, we will remain the course!"
So what are your messages for young men? How do we break this cycle of impoverishment? Our goal is show strong men who have been successful and share their attributes as examples of models to emulate. "I believe we have to lead by example, Randall quickly adds. "We all know the struggle, the effort to stay on track, the need for supporters to be near by to help guide us. But leaders are patient, they know that success takes time. It does not happen overnight. Success takes work! Education and continuous education in schools, through experiences, through friends and networks and through reading, books, the Internet, magazines and journals, help keep us literate.
"Parents play a significant role in the success of their children. If only by sitting together for breakfast or dinner, it is important for children to know what their parents are expecting from them. They must know their boundaries. Sometimes, I have had to play my role by telephone, but I have always understood the importance of ‘being there,’" he said.
"Children also need someone to whom they can vent, it helps them cope when things get rough. Maybe it is the parent, a solid friend, teacher or a respected adult that helps them cope. The adolescent years are volatile for all teens and it is important that they understand their futures lie before them. And, preparation for the time after the teen years begins in grade school and continues throughout life. These are the roles of the mentors in the ‘For the Sake of Aaron’: project, but all of us can mentor."
Randall stated, "People gave me so much support. I am a better person for the people who believed in me. When I was at Marquette, one of my former teachers led the collection of monies to help me financially. The money meant a lot, but their belief in me meant as much, if not more. I wanted to show my gratitude and that helped me stay the course. That experience has led me to give back too. We all must give back."
And that led to our discussion about utilizing all of the resources to change this paradigm of negativity. The national reports about Milwaukee and its growing image of lack rather than growth has been directly associated with the Black community. Gerard Randall said, " We have so much power in our elected officials. If ever we could coordinate our efforts with a common strategy. They are our most potent resource within the community.
"Today, in my humble opinion, political wrangling pre-empts a concerted effort. Dependent upon the strategies of the prevailing party, regrettably, the community too frequently becomes the pawn. We must see our community as a unit, one that needs services and a concentrated focus, regardless of party. And, success must be weighed and validated. The community cannot stand for less. We cannot permit ‘community’ to become the by-product of lukewarm commitments. Milwaukee affects the image of the state and certainly the national classification for ‘best cities.’"
Our needs are so great that it will take the talent and skills of the best of the best to turn generational negativity into productivity. To that end, we applaud Gerard Randall, and the associates at PIC, who for the last eight-and-one-half years has formulated programs to strengthen employment possibilities for those needing supplemental training.
While we all decry the statistics that now mimic cities such as Detroit, Cleveland, and Gary, Indiana, we continue to believe that the current gubernatorial and mayoral leadership has designed strategies that have the potential of making a significant dent in the issues that debunk us. And, Gerard Randall has proven programs that continue to be viable and valuable. He has given his best!
Private Industry Council has the potential of bringing the "best of the best" to potential wage earners, academic successes and aspirants of middle class value systems. That we applaud, encourage and honor. Gerard Randall, you are the "best of the best!"
