We're feeling good about February

Smackdown in the Macktown: Ellis vs. Reichert

Give him credit. If former mayor C Jack Ellis didn’t accomplish anything else in his eight years, he did one thing extremely well: he turned the ordinary and boring aspects of everyday politic processes into prime-time local drama. Case in point, Ellis threatens a lawsuit against mayor Robert Reichert. Why? By dismissing four nominees for appointment, Reichert ended a lawsuit that Ellis filed against the city’s housing authority. The sticking point between Ellis and the housing authority has only been whether or not the mayor had the power to nominate folks without prior approval from city council. The fact that Ellis always wanted to avoid going to city council for anything doesn’t apply to Reichert, who seems pretty friendly with this new city council still. So this seems like an ego thing on Ellis’s part. All’s I know is that his stand against the housing authority has cost city taxpayers a whopping $250,000. Whether Reichert did the nice thing by telling Al Tilman, Henry Ficklin, Shirley Hunt and Ronnie Milley they were de-appointed, it seems he did the right thing.

Oh when the saints go marching again…

I think MLK Day is a cruel joke on poor people because it only offers them the illusion of having a voice without the punch of actually having a voice. Whereas Dr. King first focused on civil rights for marginalized black people, he soon was shouting out for the civil rights of all marginalized people, both here and abroad. In fact, one of his most powerful speeches was an angry anti-war rant.

Read: "…don't let anybody make you think that God chose America as his divine, messianic force to be, a sort of policeman of the whole world. God has a way of standing before the nations with judgment, and it seems that I can hear God saying to America: ‘You are too arrogant! If you don't change your ways, I will rise up and break the backbone of your power, and I will place it in the hands of a nation that doesn't even know my name. Be still and know that I am God.’"

That’s hardcore stuff, right? Yet it seems like all that power and courage has been co-opted until hardly a phantom of it remains visible. We know he was a strong and bold soul, but we can’t really see it because politicians and other butt-kissers stand in the way. They want you to believe they’d be Dr. King’s best friend if only he were alive today.

See, that’s the problem. He’s dead. Can you imagine someone like George W. Bush actually trying to deal with Dr. King? Can you imagine what he’d be saying to us today? And no, not every politician and community leaders is just trying to look good. This is really a problem with The People (i.e. – us). Instead of singing “We Shall Overcome”, our anthem has become “We Shall Not Be Bothered”. If that weren’t true then things like the MLK Day March wouldn’t look so much like a historical reenactment instead of an effort to keep forging ahead for justice.

A one-in-three chance at greatness!

Macon was recently named one of “100 Best Communities for Young People” by America’s Promise Alliance. The group touts their “Five Promises”—getting four means a child has a good shot at being happy, they say—and accepted applications from 300 communities. The distinction, while not something to be embarrassed about, isn’t an overwhelmingly amazing thing just because they were one of a hundred to win. The honor is even further diluted by the fact that everyone who applied is eligible to apply for $300,000 in grants from the APA. Though it’d be natural to assume that winners would have a better shot at the grants, you’ve got to figure that it’d kind of be counter-productive since each of those 100 communities is already one of the BEST for kids. It’d almost make more sense to only award the grants to the 200 losers so they can work on catching up. Not that I’m rooting against Macon, okay. Just saying. As far as being a winner goes, the APA has hooked up with KABOOM! to give away a brand new community-built playground (value: $70,000). The catch is that the community has to be named a 2008 Playful City as a part of a KABOOM! Campaign. Oh well.