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Saturday, May 26, 2018

The Just Live By Faith. The Unjust Live By the Silence of Mankind Washington, DC in May 2018: 59 Homicides and 26 Unsolved

The Just Live By Faith.  The Unjust Live By the Silence of Mankind
Washington, DC in May 2018: 59 Homicides and 26 Unsolved


She held me this morning.  Dressed in her finest athletic garb to visit the local gym, Francine Milton was filled with a sorrow that neither time nor the kind expression of condolence could heal.  She is a Godly woman and a smile is often drawn across her face when she listens to the ever encouraging sounds of Mercy Me, Big Daddy Weave, or Lauren Daigle.  It was the words of "I Can Only Imagine" that pierced her soul on the day that she buried our daughter, Charnice Milton.  


Surrounded by your glory
What will my heart feel
Will I dance for you Jesus
Or in awe of You be still
Will I stand in your presence
To my knees will I fall
Will I sing hallelujah
Will I be able to speak at all

As the tears slowly streamed down from the side of her eye to the softness of her cheek, I watched as she dreamed of seeing her daughter dancing and singing before Christ.  She was not merely a singer before the congregation on Sunday mornings.  O, Charnice could "SANG".  She wanted to be there to hear God say to Charnice: "Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord."  Francine had been there for everything in the course of Charnice's life.  She never missed a moment.  In this one, she could not embrace the love of her life.  As I released her from this mournful embrace, I could see her desire to dance and sing with her daughter again; her desire to hold her in her arms and kiss her forehead;  her desire to hear her voice one last time.  Through the darkness of sorrow, a mother's desire for her child burns with the hope of the ages.

She grieves still.



On Sunday, May 27, 2018, Francine and I will celebrate the wonderful life of Charnice Milton and as well, mournfully remember how she was taken from us.  A bold and brilliant woman whose life was stolen by a man who valued his life above hers.  Charnice was merely a bullet-proof vest.  A woman of little worth she was in his eyes.  Just an ordinary thing to keep him from knowing the ultimate sacrifice of gang violence--death.  In a moment, Chanice was judged to be, not a warm and gentle human being, but, an inanimate object that after usage could be discarded as a tissue upon the ground.  A woman no more was she.  She was merely a shield to save his life.  

The most challenging thing about her murder is that none saw it.  No, she was not murdered in a parking garage beneath the Nation's Capital or in some God-forsaken alley-way.  She was shot and killed in front of a well-lit retail area on three of the busiest thoroughfares in the City--Naylor Road SE, Alabama Avenue SE, and Good Hope Road SE.  The two gang members were accompanied by fourteen others.  None have come forward.  Yet, of the criminal element, silence is to be expected.  O, what grace of the Lord it would be if the consciences of these men and the others, including the women that rode of the backs of their all-terrain vehicles (ATV), were provoked into standing all men and confessing their guilt.  Then, true justice would be served and our neighbors would be at ease.  

For the man that pulled the trigger and the man that chose her to be his human shield, I wonder how their lives have been over the past three years.  Are they trembling with fear that someone will expose the truth to save their own lives from the judgments or eh criminal justice system?  At night, do tears fall from their eyes in grief over their actions and what it has meant to a family that may be merely a block away from their bedroom?  As they see her face on television screens around the country, do they hope that they can suppress the desire to speak freely?  Three years have passed.  They, in spite of their actions, may have been blessed by God to conceive and bring life into this world.  O, how great it is to hold in your hands the very image of yourself and the one that you loved.  However, when you look into the eyes of your flesh and blood, do you think of how fragile life is and how the next bullet fired in the Inner-City may end the life of the child that you hold so dearly?  As a woman having carried the child to term for nine months, do you ever think of how you will feel if you lost the one that you bore because he or she was considered just a thing and not your beloved child?  I pray not against those that have taken our beloved Chanice from us.  Lord knows that I pray for them, daily.  I pray that God will strengthen them as men and women to confess and bring about fitful justice.  I pray for their families that have been burdened with the desire to preserve the freedoms and liberties of the guilty at the forsaking of the life and peace of the innocent.  I pray for the grandmother that knows and must carry this grueling trial of secrecy to the pew every Sunday.  With folded hands and closed eyes, they cling to the Mighty Hands of Jesus that they do not have to ever do for others what she prays the guilty will do for themselves. 

So what do you pray for?  You must be filled with vengeance and bitter hatred!

I pray that they guilty ones shall walk in the peace and prosperity of Jesus Christ.  Peace and prosperity do not eliminate the penalties for their actions.  Their Faithfulness shall allow them to walk in the stature of the Son of God "in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man".  We pray that they love God with all of their hearts, their minds, their souls, and their strengths and that they learn to love their neighbors as they have loved themselves.  As children of Faith, Francine and I believe that God's justice will prevail in His Kingdom, no matter which realm we are in.  However, it is a more noble thing that those that have done evil against others confess their hearts and submit to their penalties for the good of themselves and their neighbors.



This, however, brings us the greatest conundrum to consider.  If our neighbors know who is guilty amongst use then, why do they remain silent?  As well, why does the public accept the justifications of the silence as just and pure?  Not a theorist of conspiracies, however, there must be something to it that the Nation promotes the theme "If You See Something, Say Something" yet, one in three homicides go unsolved.  Criminologists estimate that at least 200,000 murders in the United States have gone unsolved since the 1960s.  Is this a new phenom?  In a July 15, 2015 editorial, "Chairman Mendelson: "Relisha Rudd" and "Charnice Milton" Demand a Hearing", I wrote: 

"I was told that her killers were on all-terrain vehicles and other recreational vehicles.  Like champions of public safety, I heard the Council and DC Agencies jump out to really solve the crime.  "Go after the ATVs and synthetic marijuana!  That will solve these unsolved cases."  Huh?  The long and short of it is that my daughter's killers were able to get away with murder in Washington, DC.  In fact, my daughter was unresolved case No. 31 at the time of her slaying, May 27, 2015.  It's July 15, 2015 and there are 48 unresolved homicides and my daughter remains listed."

Maybe things are different now that Mayor Muriel Bowser and Chief Peter Newsham celebrated the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Departments' increase to 71% in the homicide closure rate for 2017, up from 70% in 2016 and 62% in 2015.  Unfortunately, as of the third anniversary of the heinous murder of Charnice Milton, the trend may be short-lived. 


“My heart continues to go out to the families who have lost loved ones to senseless violence. We will not be satisfied with any level of violence in our community, and we will work hand-in-hand with Washingtonians to continue building a safer, stronger DC,” said Mayor Bowser. “When we have individuals who terrorize our community, we will do everything in our power to bring those people to justice.” 

As of May 25, 2018, the Nation's Capital reports a dramatic 48% increase in homicides from 2017.  The City's MPD reports 59 murders to date versus 40 at the same time last year.  In perspective, the homicide closure rate has improved.  In May 2017, 40 homicides had been reported and 30 of those went unsolved.  That is a whopping seventy-five percent (75%)!  We are to be satisfied that the to date closure rate is better.  Of the 59 murder cases, 26 have gone unsolved, which is forty-four percent (44%).  



My Neighbor, what is the difference between 2017 where there were fewer murders and more unsolved and our current year where there are more homicides and fewer unsolved?  In a National Public Radio interview, Practical Homicide Investigation: Tactics, Procedures, and Forensic Techniques (4th edition) Vernon Geberth, a retired, self-described NYPD "murder cop" believed that standards for charging someone are higher now — too high, in his opinion and thinks prosecutors nowadays demand that police deliver "open-and-shut cases" that will lead to quick plea bargains.  As well, the distrust between the police and our neighbors greatly increases the chances that a murder or homicide in our neighborhoods will go unsolved.  In 2016, police nationwide cleared forty-six percent (46%) of all violent crimes.  Clearance is a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) measure of cases closed, or "cleared" through the arrest, charging, and referral of a suspect for prosecution.  Clearance does not equal clearance.  A culprit may be identified without the possibility of arrest — if the suspect has died.  Most of the crimes that are reported to police are not solved

So how do we solve more cases?  The politicians say that past performance is not a guarantee of future failures.  Vote them and the world will change.  The white shirts say we need more money in our budget and new technologies.  The blue shirts say that the white shirts should leave them alone and let them do their jobs.  The community leaders say that the blue shirts need to stay out of their communities oppressing and haranguing the people and arresting innocent culprits because of the color of their skin.  Criminals say nothing and encourage the community to do likewise.  in fact, they seek the protection of those with access and influence to keep their operations vibrant and ever imposing.  So what do the neighbors say?  Nothing.  There is silence.

In "Why Do People Stay Silent In The Face Of Evil?", Ben Shapiro wrote, "The answer is almost always the same: they didn’t speak up — and we don’t speak up — because we’re seeking to protect something.  Not someone — we often despise those we protect. Something.  Something larger: a political or religious institution, a cause or piece of art.  It’s easy to ignore abuses of individuals when we can minimize them as collateral damage in pursuit of a higher goal."  What are my neighbors protecting, if it is not the sixteen (16) individuals involved in the murder of Charnice Milton?  Is it the narrative that gun control stops gun violence?  Is it that the prison reform begins with keeping the guilty out of prison?  Whatever is said must be done in the cover of darkness.  It is a dearth that covers families and friends in endless sorrow, suffering, and regret.  It requires men, women, and children to live by Faith.   



We must have a confident belief in the truth and its revealer, the values that put Christ ahead of any contrasting agenda, or the trustworthiness of our neighbor.  Why do we need His Faith in this City?  In DC, the Memorial Day Weekend began violently.  Five men were shot and one of them was killed.  Alexander Mosby, a 39-year-old D.C. resident, and business owner, was shot just before 2 a.m. Saturday on the 2200 block of Savannah Terrace SE.  He was taken to a hospital, where he died.  He was one of the business partner's of the Anacostia clothing store "District Culture".  Officials are offering a reward of up to $25,000 to anyone that provides information which leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for any homicide committed in the District of Columbia.  Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the police at (202) 727-9099.

We pray that our neighbors will not close their blinds and convict themselves to eternal silence.  In the end, it is only by His Faith that Charnice's and Alexander's murders will be solved.  Long before the hot summer of 2018, the trend does not look good.  It is His Faith that propels us to rebuild and to live again.  In a moment that reveals the despair of our culture, we have a good hope.  

The Just Live By Faith.  The Unjust Live By the Silence of Mankind.  




An Urban Conservative Whose Mission Is to Spread the Good News of Christianity, Conservatism, Capitalism, Constitutionalism, and Individual Sovereignty throughout the World.  Devoted to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, He Believes that in Order to Save the United States, We Must Mutually Pledge Our Lives, Our Fortunes, and Our Sacred Honor to Save Urban America.





Wednesday, May 16, 2018

America's Inner Cities are the Best Mission Fields for the Gospel of Jesus Christ



America's Inner Cities are the Best Mission Fields for the Gospel of Jesus Christ


America's Inner Cities are the Newest Mission Fields for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Having long suffered the absence of Faith investment, vocational education, and economic resources, America's Inner Cities have suffered decreases in Christian values, high levels of unemployment and disinvestment, and insufferable levels of violent crime and welfare dependency.  The inner city is generally the central area of a major city, tend to have higher population densities than outer suburbs, and usually, occupy multi-floored townhouses and apartment buildings.  In the US, the term "inner city" is often used to describe lower-income residential districts in the city center and or impoverished minority neighborhoods.  Poverty is the scarcity or the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money.  After a decades war on poverty in the United States, those that have promoted its efforts have begun to reason that temporal relief of the conditions of poverty is not a cure.  The intended victors have become the unintended victims.  An intense strategy to reintroduce Christianity and capitalism to the Urban Mission Fields will result in greater evangelistic opportunities, profitable business developments that produce jobs, small businesses, and modest returns on philanthropic investments, and an overall reduction to the uncivil threats to public safety and demands for governmental investments.

"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:"--Matthew 28:19

America's Inner Cities are the Newest Mission Fields for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  The Messiah's command to His disciples was a threefold strategy of liberation: (1) Go; (2) Teach, and (3) Baptize.  The three commands allowed not only for both Jew and Gentile to know the Faith of Jesus Christ but promoted the liberation and civilization of the West.  Choosing men and women of Faith to spread the Gospel across the globe produced one of the world's most powerful economic philosophies--capitalism.  Under this system, capital goods are owned by private individuals or businesses and free exchange markets are promoted and protected.  The economic historian David Landes, an "unbeliever" by his description, denotes that the main factors of this great economic achievement of Western civilization are mainly religious:

• the joy in discovery that arises from each individual being an imago Dei--"image of God"--called to be a creator;

• the religious value attached to hard and good manual work;

• the theological separation of the Creator from the creature, such that nature is subordinated to man, not surrounded with taboos;

• the Jewish and Christian sense of linear, not cyclical, time and, therefore, of progress; and

• respect for the market.


As God placed the eternal destiny in the hands of the individual, capitalism placed the economic and financial responsibilities for success into the hands and hearts of individuals.  These were principles subscribed to by men and women of Faith for much of the existence of the United States of America.  Yet, when these principles were abandoned, our Inner-Cities began to perish.  The fault is not limited to those that departed from the principles but, shared by those that stopped instilling those principles

With the creation of the Second Bill of Rights in response to the Great Depression and the assent of the War on Poverty from the 1960's, many of America's Inner Cities witnessed a "progressive" departure from both the principles of Christianity and Capitalism.  Southern Baptist Pastor Alan Cross, in "Capitalism, Community, Christianity", said, "When capitalism was taken over by Darwinian philosophy and Christianity just bowed the knee to pursuit of the profit motive over the survival and flourishing of local communities, then you had the beginnings of the moral rot that would flash up in the 2007-2009 Economic Collapse and that now threatens us again.  When greed, a vice, became a virtue and Christianity in America followed along, the only possible result would be the destruction that we now see.  Instead of standing prophetically against the separation of business and care for community, we just moved along with it and supported market forces – as long as they benefitted us.  When they don’t, we howl." 

Many will ask, "How could the absence of many that pursued success in Suburban America in lieu of the political unrest and economic upheaval of the Inner-Cities possibly impact the latter so negatively?"  Pastor Cross advises, "That section of our city now is in massive decline, schools are failing, property values have collapsed, and social problems have arisen. Poor immigrants have moved in and the white people have left, leaving poor or lower middle class blacks behind.  The major businesses all left and no one wants to invest there.  And, you might drive through that area and blame the people who live there or outside forces in the economy, but having lived there and seen what happened, I can tell you that there was a lot more going on that the people involved in making it happen did not even have a framework to understand."  Past choices have created the Faith, education, and economic mission fields of today.  Those mission fields are today's Inner-Cities.


What is a mission field?  The modern church promotes the singular concept that such work is limited to foreign and remote places in Africa, Asia, and South America.  The primary definition of the day is that a mission is a group of people who have been sent to a foreign country to carry out an official task.  Jesus, however, did not define the mission fields with such cavalier distinction.  In Acts 1:8, Jesus measured the boundaries of the mission field beginning at home and then, spreading abroad.  It is written, "And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."  Jesus made it plain that our mission field is first, always within our reach, and then, spreads abroad as a result of our overall efforts and successes.  Those that wish to rebuild the people of Inner-City America must first reveal a strong commitment and sense of duty to do business and achieve economic accomplishments through employment, small business development, and wealth creation inclusive of homeownership.  Weekly, pastors and ministers extol their congregations with the assurances that "God spoke to me and told us to go on a mission to the poorest country in the world to spread the Gospel."  We must reclaim that definition to advance the Kingdom of Jesus' request of his modern disciples: a mission is the activities of a group of Christians who have been sent to a place to teach people about Christianity and Capitalism. 

However, this shall not be a "service campaign" akin to a "government relief strategy".  For years “The City” has been the pet project of Christians throughout America.  Mission trips were made to homeless shelters, food pantries, and poor neighborhoods, all in an effort to “clean up,” “rehabilitate”, and “evangelize” in Christ’s name.  These trips merely placed a band-aid on the systemic problems of a larger wound in need of stitches.  Painting the walls of a school that has broken windows and a busted furnace may make someone feel better about themselves and there impact pursuits.  Unfortunately, the children freeze on the next cold day.  The remedies that we offer as Christians should not limit us to placating the symptoms without providing a cure.  This feel-good Christianity is unacceptable to those that deliver the service and to those that receive it.  This is especially true when Jesus has outlined a way to deal with poverty although it will never be completely solved.  This will take years of faithful commitment requiring more than a weekend exhibition of works.  In order to improve the conditions of life for Inner-City Americans, we must apply the Gospel Economic Policy of Jesus Christ based upon the "Fish" paradigm.  Giving "fish" to those in need only soothes the condition momentarily, at best relieving the state of poverty while conditioning individuals to remain dependent on the "fisherman".  Teaching men and women to "fish" upholds the sovereignty of the individual while improving their chances of breaking the cycles of poverty for life.     

Faith is a very large part of the Inner-City experience.  In Proverbs 22:2, it is written, "The rich and poor meet together: the LORD [is] the maker of them all."  Where shall they come together?  They come together in corporate worship.  In the body, if there is a lack then, there will be some that will resource.  According to the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, conducted in 2007 by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life, nearly eight-in-ten African-Americans (79%) say religion is very important in their lives, compared with 56% among the U.S. adult population overall.  Religion also is important in the lives of many African-Americans who are not affiliated with any particular religion.  Fully 45% of unaffiliated African-Americans report that religion is very important in their lives.  More than eight-in-ten black women (84%) say religion is very important to them, and roughly six-in-ten (59%) say they attend religious services at least once a week.  No group of men or women from any other racial or ethnic background exhibits comparably high levels of religious observance.  This means that a significant portion of African-American Inner-City men does not participate in religious services which open the door for significant evangelistic opportunities. 


The absence of men from the gathering tends families to poverty.  Once largely limited to poor women and minorities, single motherhood is now becoming the new “norm”.  Single Mother Guide reports, today, 1 in 4 children under the age of 18—a total of about 17.2 million—are being raised without a father.  Only half were employed full-time all year long, almost a third (27.5%) were jobless the entire year.  Among those who were laid off or looking for work, less than a quarter (22.4%) received unemployment benefits.  The median income for families led by a single mother in 2016 was about $35,400, well below the $85,300 median for married couples.  The lack of income puts a strain on a family and its well-being.  Without the financial support of fathers, families tend to dependence on government programs, Faith and religious groups, and altruistic individuals and families.  Active participation in churches does not eliminate the risks of sin.  However, it does encourage "strong" marriages and fervent paternal support.  The body of Christ must take its place in the daily lives of the people and its neighborhood.  When it does then, the people prosper.  Henri Nouwen wrote, "Nevertheless, I’m profoundly convinced that the greatest spiritual danger for our times is the separation of Jesus from the church.  The church is the body of the Lord.  Without Jesus, there can be no church; and without the church, we cannot stay united with Jesus."  The life of the body and the spirit of the families and neighborhoods is revived in and by the church. 

In the District of Columbia's Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) State Plan, 2016-2020, Mayor Muriel Bowser boasted, "In a city as prosperous as ours, everyone deserves a fair shot. That is why my Administration has fought to ensure that all of our residents-whether they have been here for five generations or five minutes-have a pathway to the middle class.  That is why we are proud that our unemployment rate has declined 1.1% in the past year, and even more so in Wards 7 and 8. Our economy is growing, small businesses are thriving, and new amenities and services are popping up in all 8 wards."  In spite of this acknowledgment, there are approximately 60,000 adults in the District who do not have a high school diploma or its equivalent–about 71 percent of which are African American.  The absence of vocational educational outlets limits individuals and families to a substantial period of poverty.  The National Center for Children in Poverty reports that 56% (7,271) of children whose parents do not have a high school degree live in poor families.  As well, 45% (12,121) of children whose parents have a high school degree, but no college education live in poor families.  The employment outlook for those most at risk is not very good.  Even in an invigorated economy, the DC unemployment rate is 5.6%.  The city's rate is third highest amongst US territories and tied for second highest amongst the States.  The lacks of educational accomplishment and comparable vocational education opportunities confine individuals to the dependency of state. 


After a decades war on poverty in the US, those that have promoted its efforts have begun to reason that temporal relief of the conditions of poverty is not a cure.  The DC WIOA State Plan reports: "While there are some employment opportunities in the District for those without a four-year degree, including in high-demand sectors such as business administration and information technology, construction, healthcare, hospitality, and security and law; the availability of jobs for individuals with lower literacy levels, individuals who do not have a high school diploma or GED, and residents who only have a high school diploma or GED are far more limited. This is due to the fact that in many cases these residents need connections to adult basic education, adult secondary education and progressive levels of education, training, and other supports to start and advance along career pathways in these areas."   Taxpayers are burdened with the plight of unchanged poverty.  According to the DC Department of Human Services, the fiscal year (FY) 2018 budget reformed DC’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program by repealing the District’s rigid 60-month time limit which would have left approximately 6,000 DC families—including over 10,000 children—without vitally need case benefits.  As well, the (FY) 2019 budget raised the maximum benefit for a family of three will increase from $576 in FY 2018 to $644 in FY 2019, which is more in line with benefits in other high-cost jurisdictions.  For a family of three, this sustenance does not satisfy its overall needs either short or long term.  Imagine if a faith-based organization could provide a vocational training program that would assure an income of $4,167 per month.  That family of three now has better housing, food, transportation, education and life options.  When long-term poverty is not met with vocational education opportunities then, individuals and families languish. 

In Urban settings, small and mid-sized firms are the most relied upon for employment creation.  Where there is little income, there is little desire of businesses to invest in impoverished neighborhoods.  The absence of economic stakeholders, especially banks and financial institutions, limits lending opportunities and capital for development.  Without lending, small business development becomes non-existent.  Chris Myers Asch, Washington History Editor, writes, "In the next decade (the 1990's), as crack and crime consumed public housing projects and formerly middle-class apartment complexes alike, banks closed their branches, grocery stores pulled out, and landlords neglected upkeep, reinforcing the association of the term “east of the river” with poverty and crime.  That negative connotation has endured in the twenty-first century."  Asch identifies the distinctions between separate  geographical regions within Urban America, "...the area as a single socioeconomic entity—“East of the River”—that was the mirror opposite of the affluent neighborhoods “West of the Park.”  Individuals and organizations are not willing to risk investing in socio-economically challenged neighborhoods for fear of loss and personal well-being.  Capital flows into areas where that are less socio-economically risky and offer higher-skilled human resources. 

The Urban Institute (UI), in 1990, identified neighborhoods that can be classified as “challenged,” meaning that the neighborhood’s unemployment rate, the share of residents with less than a high school degree, and share of households headed by a single mother all exceed the citywide average by at least 20 percent.  Their findings were that 60 percent of challenged neighborhoods were located east of the Anacostia River.  Well, this must have changed significantly for "the least, the last, and the lost" in two decades.  Right?  UI found overall, 28 neighborhoods were classified as challenged in both 2000 and 2006-2010, only 6 are located west of the river.  Companies need profits for the sake of retiring debt, expanding into new markets, hiring staff, and investing in new innovations.  In hiring staff, small and mid-sized businesses are more willing to take risks on individuals with questionable criminal records, socially and financially erratic personal backgrounds and no or low job skills.  In Washington, DC and most American Inner-Cities, the absence of businesses reduces overall employment options and limits wealth creation potential for the citizens and residents in the most challenged neighborhoods.


Crime in urban neighborhoods is a great concern.  Inner-Cities like New York, Detroit, or Chicago constantly struggle with the plagues of poverty and crime. The challenged neighborhoods are perfect havens for criminals.  According to the US Bureau of Justice Statistics (USBOJS), "People living in households in the US that have an income level below the Federal poverty threshold have more than double the rates of violent victimization compared to individuals in high-income households."  USBOJS found that "urban poverty increased the risks of violence and crime for US households".  Blake Taylor, Poverty and Crime [2006], writes:

"Crime offers a way in which impoverished people can obtain material goods that they cannot attain through legitimate means. Often threat or force can help them acquire even more goods, this induces them to commit violent acts such as robbery, which is the second most common violent crime. For many impoverished people, the prize that crime yields may outweigh the risk of being caught, especially given that their opportunity cost is lower than that of a wealthier person. Thus, poverty should increase crime rates...The degree of [a] minority population in an area is also correlated with poverty due to the disproportional amount of minorities living in impoverished urban areas. In addition, racism towards minorities can lead to lower wages and fewer jobs, resulting in higher poverty rates. In 1995, all Metropolitan Areas with unemployment rates over 12% also had a population composed of at least 30% minorities."

Crime and poverty dramatically impact a city and its citizenry.  Losses to property and income, although sizeable, never equate to the loss of life--innocent lives, especially--that result from violent crimes.  Open Heart Close Case (OHCC) was created as a result of such a loss of innocent life.  On Wednesday, May 27, 2015, at approximately 9:40 pm, Ms. Charnice Milton was shot and killed in the 2700 block of Good Hope Road, SE.  The 27-year-old Washington, DC journalist was murdered after she was used as a "human shield" while attempting to catch her final bus home after covering an event on Capitol Hill.  A man or older teen on a dirt bike with a group of riders fired at another group of bike riders.  Sixteen (16) persons were involved in the murder.  As reported by DailyMail.com, Mayor Bowser said, "We want to know. We know that people were in and around the area.  We have gotten very little information and we need the public to provide that information so Charnice's killer can be captured."  No arrests have been made.  Charnice Milton is the Daughter of OHCC Founders Kenneth McClenton and Francine Milton.  An innocent life was taken in an impoverished neighborhood in Urban America. 

We believe that in order to resolve the great criminal activity threats to public safety in Urban America that stakeholders must focus on strategies that will produce vigorous economies.  The best weapon against crime is employment.  Sydney, Australia's Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) reports that "The best crime prevention tool, in the long run, is not tougher penalties or more police or better rehabilitation programs, it’s a strong and vibrant economy … If we just divert people from prison and do nothing to stop them reoffending, the money we save on prison will be spent responding to an increase in crime."  Poverty and crime statistics prove that when people are able to satisfy their basic needs, then their standard of living improves.  When individuals have employment opportunities that provide maximum wage growth no matter the educational attainment then, they are more likely to meet their needs through legitimate means.


Having long suffered the absence of Faith investment, vocational education, and economic resources, America's Inner Cities have suffered decreases in Christian values, high levels of unemployment and disinvestment, and insufferable levels of violent crime and welfare dependency.  The effects of living in high-poverty communities—such as poor health and educational outcomes, as well as limited employment opportunities—are far-reaching and generational.  According to research by Patrick Sharkey of New York University, more than 70 percent of the African American residents in the nation’s poorest urban neighborhoods are the children and grandchildren of those who lived in similar neighborhoods and conditions 40 years ago.  As a result, he states, “any interventions designed to address neighborhood disadvantage must reach multiple generations of family members.”  Only the Faith-based organizations have the power, love and resolve to reach multiple generations that suffer from poverty's impacts. 

There are over 250 major mission fields with impoverished Inner Cities in the US.  The intended victors of government relief efforts have become the unintended victims.  An intense strategy to reintroduce Christianity and capitalism to the Urban Mission Fields will result in greater evangelistic advancement, profitable business developments that produce jobs, small businesses, and modest returns on philanthropic investments, and an overall reduction to the uncivil threats to public safety and demands for governmental investments.  We believe that our application of the simplest Faith, educational, and economic principles will greatly benefit the individuals served, the local and state governments, and our neighbors in the reduction of dependency, improved public safety, increased tax collections through payroll and property ownership, and improved standard of living for all.  The opportunities for social, financial, and Kingdom impact are tremendous.



An Urban Conservative Whose Mission Is to Spread the Good News of Christianity, Conservatism, Capitalism, Constitutionalism, and Individual Sovereignty throughout the World.  Devoted to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, He Believes that in Order to Save the United States, We Must Mutually Pledge Our Lives, Our Fortunes, and Our Sacred Honor to Save Urban America.



Tuesday, May 8, 2018

The High Cost of Failure: Liberal Politics As the Seed for Urban Economic Revolution


The High Cost of Failure: Liberal Politics 
As the Seed for Urban Economic Revolution


For many in the District of Columbia, the acceptable political narrative regarding the dissonance in economic development East of the Anacostia River versus West of the Anacostia River goes something like this:

Republicans have been working feverishly since the Revolutionary War to keep Black people down and to stunt any positive economic activity East of the Anacostia River.  The old white male GOP blockade all investment monies to East of the Anacostia River.  Thus, unemployment is high, wealth creation is stunted, and there are few positive economic outlets that can be created without sizable local government investment, a variation of tax, borrow, and spend.  If Republicans would just lend the Democrats unobtrusive management of the City of Washington's resources then, East of the River neighborhoods would see poverty reduced, safer streets, and greater sources of upward mobility established.

This is the camp song for those running throughout the City and, especially, East of the River.  There is not an nth of truth within its dissemination.  Yet, it makes people that have spent years in racial and political isolation feel better about their unchanging commitment to their beliefs, emotionally restrain doubters from resistance, and persecute without rebuke challengers to such bought thought.  The propaganda's acceptance as a mainstay has yielded two arguments that solidify economic instability and political dependency: (1) East of the River is gentrifying and (2) No one wants to Invest in East of the River Economic Development.  While we do not confer upon the DC City Council the responsibility of determining if Dr. Albert Einstein was a Jew, Christian or Atheist, we must ask the people of Washington why they will not defer to his assertion that "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results".  The lack of openness on what makes a city and its people prosperous has as much to do with the high cost of failure in economically stimulating East of the River as the willful desire to sow again and again the seeds of progressive politics into the dusty shallows of Far Southeast and Far Northeast soils expecting the fruits of boom rather than husks of bust.

According to Dictionary.com, gentrification is (1) the buying and renovation of houses and stores in deteriorated urban neighborhoods by upper- or middle-income families or individuals, raising property values but often displacing low-income families and small businesses; and (2) the process of conforming to an upper- or middle-class lifestyle, or of making a product, activity, etc., appealing to those with more affluent tastes.  When one uses politics to explain away economic failure while maintaining political control, it is very easy for one to assert racial dissonance and disharmony while demanding diversity and to challenge those within the race to maintain their accord with poverty and its fruit that they may not be found in the harvest to be whiter than they need be.  In fact, East of the River Citizens possesses a most interesting dichotomy.  If they earn too little or have poor credit scores then, they will not qualify for the supplemental loans offered through the DC Housing and Community Department (DHCD) or Department of Small and Local Business Development (DSLBD).  However, if some citizens, based on racial infirmity based on political identity and poverty politics, earn enough then, they risk being outed or persecuted as "acting white".  A very tough allegation to disprove in the Court of Urban Public Opinion.  The defendant may not be invited to Big Mama's Cookout this summer or their favorite Greek organization activity at the local hotel no matter the rendering.

Heck, being prosperous is an ingrained threat to of the East of the River economic politic.  Chris Myers Asch, Washington History Editor, wrote in the Washington Informer: "In the next decade ["1990's"], as crack and crime consumed public housing projects and formerly middle-class apartment complexes alike, banks closed their branches, grocery stores pulled out, and landlords neglected upkeep, reinforcing the association of the term “east of the river” with poverty and crime.  That negative connotation has endured in the twenty-first century."  However, the economic catastrophe did not begin in the 1990's.  Asch continues, "As trailblazing African-American journalist Dorothy Gilliam observed, in the early 1980s, the area east of the river remained a “cacophony of contrasts,” with “acres of public housing and cheap apartments” as well as “$100,000 houses on cul-de-sacs.”  Yet in most parts of the city, the notion that the entire cityscape east of the river was a ghetto had hardened into incontrovertible common sense.  Reporters and residents alike referred to the entire area as “forgotten,” “neglected,” and “the other side of the tracks.”"  As things worsened, the talented tenth within the Left did what was best to insulate themselves from the stones to be thrown, blame the old, white male GOP and promise statehood.


Some will say: "Ken, you are conditioned to blame the Left.  You voted, along with 11% of Black men, for President Donald John Trump, Number 45.  You are an Urban Conservative.  You will always say that the problem is the affinity that impoverished Blacks and Hispanics have with the Socialists and Marxist stratagems for an economic revolution in the most wealth creation challenged districts.  You may say I am prejudiced, biased, or even askew with the postulations of the Left.  However, let us list those with direct government-centered economic impact on the East of the River Economy since the inception of the ruling body of the City of Washington, DC since the "District of Columbia Home Rule Act of 1973".

Mayor
Walter Washington (D), 1975-1979
Marion Barry (D), 1979-1991
Sharon Pratt Kelly (D), 1991-1995
Marion Barry (D), 1995-1999
Anthony A. Williams (D), 1999-2007
Adrian Fenty (D), 2007-2011
Vincent C. Gray (D), 2011-2015
Muriel Bowser (D), 2015-Present

Chairman
Sterling Tucker (D), 1975–1979
Arrington Dixon (D), 1979–1983
David A. Clarke (D), 1983–1991
John A. Wilson (D), 1991–1993
David A. Clarke (D), 1993–1997 (won special election after death of Wilson)
Linda W. Cropp (D), 1997–2007 (won special election after death of Clarke)
Vincent C. Gray (D), 2007–2011
Kwame R. Brown (D), 2011–2012
Phil Mendelson (D), 2012–Present (won special election after Brown resigned)

Ward 7 Member
Willie Hardy (D), 1975–1981
H. R. Crawford (D), 1981–1993
Kevin P. Chavous (D), 1993–2005
Vincent C. Gray (D), 2005–2007
Yvette Alexander (D), 2007–2017 (won special election after Gray became chairman)
Vincent C. Gray (D), 2017–Present

Ward 8 Member
James Coates (D), 1975–1977
Wilhelmina Rolark (D), 1977–1993
Marion Barry (D), 1993–1995
Eydie Whittington (D), 1995–1997 (won special election after Barry became mayor)
Sandy Allen (D), 1997–2005
Marion Barry (D), 2005–2014
LaRuby May (D), 2015–2017 (won special election after Barry died)
Trayon White (D), 2017–Present

There was no lapse of economic strength as a result of gender differences in leadership.  The District had 5 men and 2 women serve as Mayor and 8 men and 1 woman serve as Chairman of the City Council.  Within Ward 7, 4 men and 1 woman as Council members.  Within Ward 8, the most progressive, 4 women and 3 men have served as members.  Gender is not the problem.  The commonality is blatant and exhaustive.  Each of the Representatives has been elected under the Democrat banner.  Over four decades of Statist economic provocation and still, East of the River is outshone by West of the River in financial prosperity, economic development, academic successes, public safety, and overall liberty and freedom.


The Urban Institute (UI), in 1990, identified neighborhoods that can be classified as “challenged,” meaning that the neighborhood’s unemployment rate, the share of residents with less than a high school degree, and share of households headed by a single mother all exceed the citywide average by at least 20 percent.  Their findings were that 60 percent of challenged neighborhoods were located east of the Anacostia River.  Well, this must have changed significantly since the Democrats applied their intensive Marxist policies for "the least, the last, and the lost".  Right?  UI found overall, 28 neighborhoods were classified as challenged in both 2000 and 2006-2010, only 6 are located west of the river.

Things must have gotten better since over 90% of District voters supported the Democrat policies that doubled down on the Socialists' policies of the Left.  Right?  No.  The DC Fiscal Policy Institute (DCFPI) reported, September 2016, that "more D.C. Residents live in poverty than before the Great Recession".  DCFPI advised, "It's possible that low-income residents haven't been able to find better-paying jobs in the District's post-recession economy, or that certain jobs no longer exist here at all. It's also possible that within the black population, higher-income earners have moved elsewhere as others have stayed. At the same time, younger, more affluent newcomers are settling in D.C., driving the citywide median income up."  Amazing!  The same policies that made poor people poorer made rich people richer.  The same politicians that promoted these policies were lauded for their sense of inclusion while instituting the tools necessary for gentrification to be executed.  Yes, they even used race to provoke the poor to protest the same persons that the political establishment was subsidizing to move poor people out of their neighborhoods.  Even better, the same politicians that covet the glory of "an attack on me is an attack on the community" mentality capitalize at the voting booth on the ignorance, fear, and racial dissonance perpetuated as the means of protecting "the least, the last, and the lost" from their wealthy, white enemies.  Wow, it was not the old white male GOP after all.

You are out of line, Ken!

All of those people were working around the clock to pump monies into East of the River to improve the quality of life for everyone.  Really?  Asch writes, "Since 2000, the city has targeted the area for investment.  Yet the money that has flowed east of the Anacostia has been a pittance when compared to that devoted to the center city."  Indeed, the Bill of Goods has been sold to solidify potential personal gain for representatives that become former politicians at the expense of those single mothers that they once represented.  How well worn is are the material promises of the Left that after 4 decades that they would still be bought at hefty retail prices, marked up for tribal profiteering?  DCFPI, boldly without fear of protest or retaliation, recommends implementing policies that maintain the poverty most at risk.  DCFPI advises that the increase in concentrated poverty as a reason to support policies that would alleviate its burdens, like early childhood education subsidies so low-income workers could more easily arrange childcare, and make sure cash-assistance programs persist.  Not a desire to reduce regulations, lower taxes, or create a Free Market Wealth Creation Zone East of the River.  No, help the Poor remain comfortable in their Poverty.  That seems the most humane thing one can do.  We certainly can not create and protect the vessels of true economic development.  That would be supporting upward mobility and challenging the economic strength of the West of the River Neighborhoods.

The High Cost of Failure has been absolute for many in the Wards that I live and work.  Home-ownership is crippled because individual incomes and credit scored are too low.  Pols advise that they are doing everything that they can to squeeze the rich and give to the poor.  Trust me, if there was any truth to affordable housing then, there would be as many projects in Adams Morgan as there are East of the Anacostia River.  Rather than focusing on programs that could produce a "maximum income effort", the Leftists double down on presenting to those injured by economic productivity in other areas of the City the false premises of affordable housing.  Yes, Donald Trump Haters, try building a homeless shelter in Wards 1, 2, and 3 without a parking garage or Jacuzzi.  Ask the Mayor of Economics if it is even financially possible, in reality.  Unemployment is four times higher East of the River than West of the River.  Local governmental lobbyists believe that if the District would spend more money on training those without diplomas or degrees to spread bed sheets upon luxury mattresses in the local hotels that will provide their pol supporters campaign finance then, Ward 7 and 8 citizens will be better off.  In fact, these pols discourage economic activity East of the River by raising the "minimum wage" thus, penalizing smaller businesses that are already squeezed out of the Main Street economy.  Abandon the transportation industry, trucking, railroad and others, that have nearly 1.2 million jobs that would pay twice a livable wage if the poorest were trained to be employed for the splendor of the campaign funds of the hospitality industry.  Who could this practice possibly hurt?  Yes, only a liberal will tell you to raise the "minimum wage" when you have a "maximum income" problem.


Is it Racial?

According to DCFPI, Black people are the only racial or ethnic group in the District to experience an increase in the poverty rate since before the recession comprising roughly three-fourths of all D.C. residents living in poverty.  This would lead you to believe that it was.  No, it is economic and political.  The Seed for Urban Economic Revolution will not be found in the writings of Karl Marx or political leanings of former President Barack Obama.  Only a people that are willing to forbid the practice of the past four decades and embrace the principles of finance, education, and economics will excel and produce a great inheritance for those to come.  It is only racial when the majority of Blacks refuse to accept the truths that would free them from the economic confines of poverty.  Yes, that would be a black on black crime if there was ever one to behold.





An Urban Conservative Whose Mission Is to Spread the Good News of Christianity, Conservatism, Capitalism, Constitutionalism, and Individual Sovereignty throughout the World.  Devoted to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, He Believes that in Order to Save the United States, We Must Mutually Pledge Our Lives, Our Fortunes, and Our Sacred Honor to Save Urban America.