For The Sake Of Aaron
Celebrating Our Black Men |
"Men for All Seasons" by Charles Bibbs
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Dr. Earl Wheatfall, Sr.
by Patricia O’Flynn Pattillo
man of wisdom said: “There are two kinds of people in this world, they are either givers or takers.” Clearly, the quote is profound. Profound because there was a time when “giving back,” sharing, and supporting one another was a “given.”
Our history is laced with luminaries whose lives were distinguished by what they gave in order that we might have. Our parents, fore parents, relatives and mentors are direct contributors to our successes.
Giving back has been an unwritten requisite for uplifting our people. Each generation was encouraged to move up the ladder, a rung at a time. We each stand on the shoulders of those who came before us. While invisible and often taken for granted, the gift of “giving back” must be applauded, lauded and modeled. Lifting remains a dictate for us all.
When you observe the trajectory of some lives you see the undeniable presence of giving, sharing, motivating, and inspiring people to excel. These “givers” recognize achievement. They utilize their skills and talents to grow others. And, they challenge their students, their protégés to “give back”, to share with those who will come after them. The progress mode is traceable.
These are the attributes that mirror back when one examines the life of Dr. Earl Wheatfall, Sr., our honoree, this week. A graduate of Lincoln University, one of the historically Black colleges in Jefferson City, Missouri, with Bachelors and Master's Degrees; and, Doctoral graduate from the University of Virginia, Dr. Wheatfall is a man groomed, through family and university, to view success as an on-going process, which brings others along. He measures his success by those he has helped become successful.
Having worked at Virginia Commonwealth University for fifteen years, plus the University of Houston prior to coming to Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) in February 1992, he just retired in August 2006. For fourteen years, we have had the expertise, “giving back” philosophy, and resultant benefits of a success-driven model.
Today, he is President of the Milwaukee Chapter of 100 Black Men of America, and functions as an at-large member of the National Board of Directors, made up of Black professionals, throughout the World with chapters in Birmingham, England, Nassau Bahamas, Goree Island, Senegal, Kingston, Jamaica, U.S. Virgin Islands and London, England. The national focus on the Black male and their strategy to make a difference, one community at a time, brings us to his involvement in our “For the Sake of Aaron” mentoring project. He has made a personal commitment to continue giving back, even in retirement. Dr. Wheatfall shines!
“ We have a pandemic of challenges facing Black males in most urban communities, we must stop the bleeding”, he states. “ It is not isolated to Milwaukee, it is a national priority that is being broached by most of the fraternities, professional organizations, sororities and social/civic organizations. I have no clear response to the cause. Tony Brown of Tony Brown's Journal recently said: “Boys tend to see studying and preparing for college as effeminate. The number of females going on to college so outnumbers the men. “ I say, who cares. Education has nothing to do with gender. It is about listening, studying; preparing one's self, acquiring a skill. Take on the characteristics that lead to graduations. We have to be prepared in order to participate: invest in oneself.” Boldly he exclaims, “Preparation leads to Participation!”
He postulates, “ If we can help our youngsters steer clear of the law. Stay out of the criminal justice system; we will increase your chances for success. For even if student's grades are not the greatest, there are classes that can help them acquire the skills required to compete. And, if the counselors do not steer them in the right direction, there is always a role model, someone doing the job, that interests the kid, and 99% of us are willing to show how we were able to acquire some degree of success.”
“Since Martin Luther King, Jr., access is no longer an issue. You have to be willing to pay the dues. And yes, often they are painful, strenuous and long, but if one has the desire, and remains focused, you can realize most of your dreams.”
Dr. Wheatfall admits he's “old school”. “When I talk to youngsters, I admit my way is the way that worked for me, but I tell them to try my way, for just a little while. They may like it. And. more important than what school it is in is whether or not it works for them. If it works, it's got to be good”, he chuckles. And finding what works is what Wheatfall continues to be about.
“I believe we have to start early, Eight, nine and ten years old,” he said. “That's why I have agreed to work with Dr. William Rogers and his Nirvana Ministries project.
“We are partnering with the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. School and we have identified selected grades where we are working with the entire class; and then we isolate the males and meet with them weekly.”
“We talk to the youngsters about success. What is success! We tell them success is not cars or jewelry or many of the material things. Success is providing, sharing your talents, building upon the gifts you have that can make a difference. A difference not just for yourself, but also for your family, your neighborhood, your community.
In the 7 R's program, we talk to them about paying attention. We encourage them to sit in the front rows in class where they have fewer distractions as the teacher is giving, a lesson. We encourage them to have eye-to-eye contact with the teacher to maintain focus. And these concepts are working,” he proudly shares.
“We wear suits and ties, the “old school” way, because it is formal. It is the attire of the corporate world. We dress like we have a purpose. We don't come there to relax, to “chill”.
We come there to tell of how, and what we had to do to be successful. We explain that we love to “chill”, to relax, but it comes after we have done the work. And, today our job is to share with them. To ”give back” what was given to us”.
With much pride, Dr. Wheatfall begins to identify the successes. “One of my mentees went to Howard University and now he is entering Howard's Law School. He has gotten good grades and that law degree is imminent.
He was a two-time recipient of the 100 Black Men's National Scholarship, I serve on that Board. He competed against talented men and women from throughout the United States.
William Campbell is one of my students from Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC), a single father, who has gone on to Fisk University; he will graduate this May. He too is a recipient of the 100 Black Men of America scholarship.
These applicants were judged on grades, community involvements, and their own mentoring hours, within their communities.” And there are many others including Melvin Givens whom I am coaching for graduate school preferably law school.
The “giving back” concept is being adopted in many chapters, and young scholarship recipients are challenged to begin college chapters of 100 Black Men, similar to many of the fraternities and sororities. The college chapters are ideal for reaching directly into the community for young mentees, who often live within three, four or five blocks of the urban campuses, and benefit from the scholastic role models. They are the “new school” success stories.
“We are working with Marquette University, now, to begin a Milwaukee college chapter. The young men can expose many young boys to the campus, take them to a class, talk to them about what they need to do in school, from elementary through high school, give them solid readiness for college. Discussions about scholarships, financial aid, all of the intricacies that are involved in going off to college, they can do that.”
“They can also talk about prevention, pre-mature pregnancies, legal infringements that detour too many of our brightest; gang activities that lead ultimately to isolation and destruction of young dreams. These young men will be the examples young boys will emulate,” he continues. These young men need to see what is required to be successful.
Women are an integral part of the mentoring process and Dr. Wheatfall is encouraging mothers to attend the weekly mentoring meetings at King School. “Dr. Rogers and I are working to get the mother's component together. While the boys are being schooled on the 7Rs (respect, responsibility, reorganization, reclamation, redemption, reasoning and restraint), we are trying to have representatives available to show the mother's how to get into MATC or UWM, get their GED's, move on to the colleges. We have UWM; Alverno, Cardinal Stritch, Marquette, Mount Mary, MSOE, and others. We have no lack of educational outlets available to us.” We even have connections with selected Historical Black Colleges if students are willing to relocate. Clearly, we have a village opportunity. We all must give!
Recognizing that more mentors are needed to accomplish these projects, Dr. Wheatfall expounds, “It will never work for the masses unless we all rise. We have to rise to help and we have to raise expectations! Corporations will join us as they see our successes and review our supporting success data. But, too many of us want to take our marbles and go home; an 'I've got mine' attitude! But yours is only as strong as mine! When we show the benefits associated with changing one home, we will see how we can change the community. Data supports our theory that strong homes creates strong communities.”
Typically, the 20-80 rule applies to volunteer organizations. Twenty percent of the people do all of the work and 80% enjoy the credits. And, change commands foot soldiers to execute the plans. Foot soldiers are in many camps, with marching orders that are beginning to bear fruit.
For example, “Milwaukee's 100 Black Men are gifted with talented men like Dr. William Finlayson and Supervisor Michael Mayo who provided leadership for our annual scholarship information event, each year. Last year, we had 69 participants fill out financial aid information on a Saturday morning. This process can not be underrated,” he reminds.
In conjunction with Dr. Joan Prince of UWM and other community leaders, joint-financial aid workshops were offered at MATC. They teach students and parents the process and encourage them to begin making application immediately after taxes are filed in February or March.
All high school seniors should apply, even if they are still undecided about which college they will attend. The complete Financial Aid process takes weeks and sometimes months to complete and students should not be postponed until the graduation dates to file an application.
Unwavering, Dr. Wheatfall continues, “ We have the ingredients to make a difference in Milwaukee. Mayor Barrett is a positive, progressive mayor. He is working within the community. Corporations are supporting innumerable community-based projects. There simply is no excuse! And you are bringing the information to the readers. Media is playing its role.”
Sharing successes from around the country in the 100 Black Men's mentoring programs, Dr. Wheatfall related. “In Las Vegas, the chapter identified a school with problems and took it on as a project.
They hired the teachers, filled the school, in partnership with the city and they made “stars” out of “throw aways, as described in their past schools. In Milwaukee, we have taken the sixth grade, at the King School, We are determined to track them, follow them, and be available to continue the mentoring process. Good data bears us out”
And the new concept of reaching youngsters earlier is the foundation of the Nirvana project, where Milwaukee Community Journal is funding ten of the boys. “Education is the key, says Wheatfall. “ And, you don't have to want to be only doctors and lawyers. MATC has over 100 skill areas. And MATC is on the bus-line.
There is no excuse. You start there and move on. As we improve the quality of education in our city, we will improve our neighborhoods, our community”
“We need a community vision. One that supports a “we can do it attitude. Sam Johnson always talks about our need to expose the skills, the trades, and licensed jobs like plumbers, electricians. carpenters, welders, mechanics, those jobs that pay living wages, oftentimes more than the college degree positions.
And skills that afford opportunities to create our own businesses and employ the current unemployed. We have to see the vision of using education to build a total community”
At MATC, Dr. Wheatfall, Sr., was the Director of Counselors, leading a staff that embraced education as vehemently as he. They counseled daily and worked to develop a city-plan for education and employment. They recognized the importance of designing opportunities for a second chance. “MATC counselors can help anyone make it, he confidently states. “You just must be willing to do it! My reward has come from watching young people persevere and become successful.”
The winners in all of these programs however, are not those who just come to school. They are the workers, those who learn to leave the problems at home and listen, and study. They have a vision of themselves after MATC, and they do not permit any past challenges to create obstacles for their current plan. They capture the opportunities, utilizing all of the available resources to move up the ladder. They are success bound. And people like Dr. Wheatfall, Sr., and all of the honorees, who have been profiled in this :”For the Sake of Aaron “ focus, have agreed to not only mentor in the King School project, but be available to talk to young men who wish to emulate their successes. These men have declared their desire to “give back”
Dr. Earl Wheatfall, Sr., President of the Milwaukee Chapter of 100 Black Men of Greater Milwaukee, Inc. and member at large of the National Chapter of 100 Black Men of America, we applaud you! You have “given back” in every arena of your education, your employment and your civic and social associations. Thousands of students have been direct beneficiaries of your wisdom, your commitment to change, your desire to utilize your talents of expertise, time and fiscal resources to lift those who came behind you.
You, Dr. Wheatfall, have embraced the teachings of your parents, fore parents, and historically Black colleges, who made “sharing” a requisite to enjoying true success. Your continued participation on the Board of the St. Joseph Hospital's Foundation; 100 Black Men-Milwaukee and National, along with your mentoring weekly with the children at the Martin Luther King, Jr. School, are exemplary. You are commended.
Your desire to continue to make a difference, even in retirement, goes beyond the expected and affirms your philosophy that each of us have something to offer. You continue to lead by example. You are the Best of the Bests!
You, Dr. Wheatfall, partner with organizations aligned with your personal commitment to plant the seeds, now, and nurture them, for the future. For years, you were on the Board of the Boys Scouts of America, where you led the urban initiative that brought scouting to the central city through YMCA and other community resources. We are grateful beneficiaries of your time and talent.
You are the Best of the Best Dr. Earl Wheatfall, Sr., and we sincerely thank you and your family, who have supported you in your call to “give back”!
Manhood, Part II
by Tyran Saffold Jr.
In a room of men and young boys, ages 8 to 42, the question was posed: “What does it mean to be a man?” Amongst the mix of young and old, these are some of the answers that were offered: “A man is brave and he has to have a job,” said 8-year-old Darrell Dulaney, Jr. Said his father: “A man has to be responsible. He has to be able to take care of himself and those around him.”
Marlon Wills stated: “A man stands up for everything he believes in and doesn't back down from anyone. He has to have a backbone.”
What makes a man “a man?” Or more importantly, who or what is teaching our young boys how to be a man?
“It's hard for a young man to know how to become a man if his father or male role model isn't around,” Wills said, adding, “A mother can nurture a son, but she can not teach him how to be a man. No disrespect to the single parent mothers, but there are just some things that they cannot help a young man understand.”
The missing Black male in today's society faces catastrophic situations that are pushing him to the brink of extinction, not only for himself but for the entire Black race: The lack of suitable mates for Black women, the need of a strong male figure in the household. Such obstacles have created a rift between Black men and the future keepers of our race, more specifically, our Black boys.
Many historians and cultural observers point to a list of methods used to control slaves that was developed by a White West Indes plantation owner by the name of Willie Lynch titled, “How to Make a Slave.”
During a speech he gave to plantation owners along the banks of the James River in Virginia in 1712, in which he outlined how to control slaves, Lynch said the key factor in making a slave was to separate the father from the child and mother.
By allowing 46.5 percent of our Black men to be in prison (which is twice that of Hispanics, which is 23.2 percent), or in the grave or the Military, it's obvious that the age old Lynch theories are still in effect in present day America.
With “the missing Black male” becoming more and more prevalent in today's society, who will be left to teach our young men how to be men, or what makes a man a man?
As the backbone of our culture continues to be taken to prison and away from their families because of petty crimes that are more deserving of alternatives to imprisonment, who or what is filling the void?
“I think that the music is playin' a big part in showing young men what does NOT make a man,” stated Antuan Henderson. “I think certain mainstream music and media has allowed our young boys to believe that wealth determines who is and who is not a man. As they grow up, they will think that the guy with the big rims or nice car is more of a man than them though they are supporting their family and ridin' in a Nissan.”
Our values have been tangled up between rap videos and the missing advice that we didn't think to get, or our fathers and grandfathers never gave us. “For me, personally, the few times my dad was around and he told me things, I remember them like he just said it two seconds ago,” stated Wills. “One thing I remember, and I always will, is when he told me to always look a man in the eye when you speak to him. He said that looking away shows a sign of weakness.”
Simple advice about what makes a man or how a man should behave has been missing from generation to generation. As young boys of other cultures receive the privilege of having both parents in the household, our young boys continue to suffer from the absence of fathers which, unfortunately, will result in the lack of knowledge given to our youth. And it's not just young boys who are impacted by the absence of a father. Many men long removed from boyhood still struggle to know what makes them a man as they seek out advice on things their fathers never told them.
“It's crazy when I go out here and I see grown men who still sag their pants or do the same things that I used to do when I was 16,” said Wills. “I'm like, 'why in the world is he still actin' like that', but then I realize that you gotta look at it deeper. You gotta look at it like he may not have had the advantages another man had.”
Wills continued: “He may not have had the opportunity to have a father or a fatherly figure in his life to show him, you know, a man does this or a man does that. He probably just doesn't know, and who can you blame for that?”
It's simple advice from the heart of an older man who has been through it, to the heart of a young man who is about to embark on the same path. Whose fault is it if a young boy doesn't open a door or give his seat up for a woman? Can a man, or young man, be faulted for information that he never received?
“But when you talk about opening doors for women or carrying something that might be too heavy, I think women play a role in that too,” stated Wills. “Some women don't want you to do that for them. They still on that, 'I'm an independent woman' Beyonce song from some years ago.”
Henderson laughed adding, “yeah, you try to be a gentleman and do things like that. But these women nowadays make it hard for a man to be a man. I think that if a woman doesn't allow a man to do the things he was taught to do, like holdin' doors and (stuff) like that, it's gonna make him feel like less of a man.”
In order to answer the question of “what makes a man a man”, we have to look at a man. We have to know that the best advice on how to be a man is passed down from man to man, one generation to the next.
It's ironic that we are in a society where our grandfathers are valued less than those of other cultures, despite the fact they possess potent information and advice for our young men.
A man with silver hair, who chose to remain anonymous, said this: “Don't ever think you are better than anyone else.”
His statement held weight that led to questions as to why he would say this, but in the end, the advice of our elders is something that this generation needs: to respect our elders and their potent advice. The advice that could go straight to the heart of a young man and stick with him until the day he dies.
Abduction
by Linda Stewart--Part One
National news has covered the abduction of the young boys in Missouri. We hope to bring awareness of how we, as a community, have to become more vigilant in assuring that our children do not become victims of kidnapping and physical or sexual abuse.
The criminal justice system also played a role in this tragedy, and that of other children who come up missing, everyday. The children are not always hidden from the view of the public, or law enforcement, or even social service institutions that are designed to protect youth from becoming victims.
As adults, we have to be more focused on who and what is around us. We have to pay attention to the children within the community. Paying more attention requires that we listen to what our kids are telling us, observing their actions, activities and paying particular attention to the environment around them.
The Missouri youngsters, Ben and Shawn were both abducted in rural counties, but found in a suburb of St. Louis, Kirkwood. Kirkwood is a place one would not expect such a criminal act to occur.
Newspaper accounts reveal that Shawn had lived in the community all of the years that he was held captive. He had even been given a ride by the police, in the past, after being out past curfew. He was presumed to be the son of the perpetrator.
Ben, the other child, was abducted while getting off the school bus in his rural county and was brought to the same house in the Kirkwood suburb. Questions follow: How can this be?
Now that the boys are home again, with their families, we must, as a community, the criminal justice system, the social service agencies and neighbors, ask these questions and formulate a course of action, a plan, that ensures all children's safety from predators: (1) How did the perpetrator lure the boys into his confidence and then his apartment; (2) Why would a child stay away from home for 4 1/2 years and not attempt to go home, while his family pleaded for his return; (3) where were the safety nets that typi-cally see these improprieties and criminalize the perpetrators.
In the week's to come, we hope to shed some light on this matter, for the sake of our children.
Next week, we will examine how these kinds of children become victims, and how the perpetrator functions.
