Reflections on a Dream

Reflections on a Dream

By Phyllis Wilder

This past weekend I was honored to attend the white-tie, star studded event MLK: A Monumental Life, a musical theater production chronicling the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The performance was held at Washington, D.C.’s DAR (Daughters of the Revolution) Constitution Hall. Cast members captured Dr. King’s early days at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta through the civil rights movement.

Though the event was a joyous celebration of his life, it was not long ago that the African-American contralto Marian Anderson was denied the right to sing in Constitution Hall. To be present for an occasion to honor Martin Luther King, Jr. in that very place and listen to mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves sing "Ave Maria" by Schubert—was one of many poignant moments of the presentation. 

For me, it served as a reminder of the sacrifices he and many others made for African Americans to enjoy today’s freedoms and luxuries. I am humbled and honored to have been a witness to the completion of MLK’s memorial on the National Mall during the tenure of the nation’s first African American President. The fulfillment of the dream continues.

To The Left (Social Justice): Know History... Know Labor!

Know History... Know Labor!

On this Labor Day, as some people assault the American worker’s right to organize, protest and collectively bargain, it is appropriate to take a few minutes to remember -- and learn -- on whose shoulders we toil.

Workers fighting for their rights is as American as apple pie. Strikes, protests and walk-outs have been part of this country from its earliest beginnings.

●    First recorded prosecution against strikers occurs in New York City (1677)

●    Artisans and laborers in the Sons of Liberty protest against oppressive British taxes (1765)

●    Philadelphia printers conduct first successful strike for increased wages (1786)

●    Philadelphia carpenters strike for and win a 10-hour work day (1791)

Many lost their lives in service to their fellow workers.

●    Ten Molly Maguires, Irish coal miners, were hanged in Pennsylvania (1877)

●    Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire in New York kills nearly 150 workers (1911)

●    Ludlow Massacre of 13 women and children and seven men in Colorado coal miners’ strike (1914)

The strides made garnered by tradesmen and laborers have not only helped them, they have helped us all.

●    Department of Labor is created (1912)

●    Fair Labor Standards Act established the first minimum wage and 40-hour work week (1938)

●    César Chavez formed AFL-CIO United Farm Workers Organizing Committee (1965)

●    Occupational Safety and Health Act passed (1970)

Submitted by Shannon Mouton

Trade Tips: Brainstorm Like a Child

Trade Tips: Brainstorm Like a Child

By Nicole Hayes

Sometimes the word itself causes dread, and the act makes us fearful: Brainstorming. We’ve all been there. The boss or project leader asks everyone to meet for a “brainstorming session” and your mind suddenly resists. Why the resistance?  You may not have one idea or with sheer luck, squeeze out just one. So why do some of us resist brainstorming? Possible answer: We’ve grown up.

As we age, life envelopes us in routines, procedures, expectations and thinking patterns that children have the ability to forgo. Sometimes these restraints prevent us from saying what’s on our minds. We judge the idea, determining if it’s worthy of sharing, if it will be shot down, dismissed. Furthermore, we think we’re not creative enough to brainstorm. Wrong. We are in fact creative—creativity never leaves us, we just walk away from it.  Our advice for overcoming the brainstorm session fear: 1) Take a few minutes to get present, clear your mind of the day’s clutter, 2) Be childlike—approach the session as an adventure, knowing that each idea can light the path to a greater idea, 3) Free yourself from conjuring up the perfect idea—even the best of ideas need further fleshing out.

There you go! Have fun!

Criminal Justice: Your Lyin' Eyes

Criminal Justice: Your Lyin' Eyes

Adam Serwer blogs at The American Prospect about the recent New Jersey Court ruling on the unreliability of eyewitness testimony. Chief Justice Stuart Rabner wrote an opinion holding that the legal standards for admissibility of eyewitness evidence needs to change. Rabner cited factors like cross-racial identification and stress that may impact victim's recollection. The ruling cites scientfic studies on the unreliability of eyewitness identification that show victims pick the wrong person in a lineup as often as they pick the right one.

While victims' memories may be shaky, if they appear confident while giving testimony juries are likely to convict.

According to the Innocence Project, over 75 percent of DNA exonerations involve eyewitness misidentification.

Read about it here: http://prospect.org/csnc/blogs/adam_serwer_archive?month=08&year=2011&base_name=you_cant_believe_your_eyes

Video: Hurricane Irene As Seen From the International Space Station

Video: Hurricane Irene As Seen From the International Space Station

McKinney & Associates hopes everyone on the East Coast stays safe this weekend, and protected from any serious damage from the impending Hurricane Irene. Between the earthquake this week, and now this possible category 3 hurricane on its way, mother nature is sure reminding us just how powerful and unruly she can be.

Just in from the ISS:

From 230 miles above the Earth, cameras on the International Space Station captured new views of powerful Hurricane Irene as it churned over the Bahamas on August 26, 2011. Irene is moving to the northwest as a Category 3 hurricane, packing winds of 120 miles an hour. Irene is expected to strengthen to a Category 4 storm as it heads toward the Outer Banks of North Carolina, the Eastern Seaboard and the middle Atlantic and New England states.

For some Hurricane Preparedness Tips from the U.S. Government, you can visit:
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/HAW2/english/disaster_prevention.shtml

Have a safe weekend everyone!

Fiction Isn't Fact...It's Fiction

Fiction Isn't Fact...It's Fiction

While The Help has garnered rave reviews and made money at the box office, there has been an undercurrent of mumbling and grumbling about the movie. Some, like the Association of Black Women Historians, have denounced the movie because of its historical inaccuracies in the depiction of life as a Black domestic in the Jim Crow south.

The film is based on the novel of the same name, which by definition is a work fiction. The Help isn't a memoir, biography or autobiography. The story is based on someone's real life; however, by calling it a novel, the author acknowledges sufficient embellishments and divergence from facts for it to be fictional. This is nothing new, during the early nineties, there was much ado over Oliver Stone's JFK. Historians denounced the film because Stone told the story from his point of view and used creative license in telling the story of the 35th president, his tenure and his death.

Guess what? It's all fiction...it's all make believe. These are not documentaries or exposes. These are movies and novels; they represent one person's creative expression. 

The good news, people are talking about day work (as my Mother calls it). They are asking questions, researching and learning about an aspect of Black women's history that has mostly been glossed over for the last half century. And discourse and discussion are always good.

'Freedmen' Still Fighting for their Dream

'Freedmen' Still Fighting for their Dream 

Excitement and pride have been justifiably juxtaposed with calls to action throughout the blogosphere as media anticipation for the dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. monument reaches a climax.

Just three days from now, on the anniversary of Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech (audio below), the National Mall’s first memorial for an African American will receive its formal dedication.

While media and bloggers are quick (and right) to draw attention to the aspects of Dr. King’s speech that still ring true –

“The Negro still is not free … the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination … the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity … the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land…”

– some Blacks find themselves fighting discrimination in a surprising and under-publicized situation.

Earlier this week the Supreme Court of the Cherokee Indian nation, the second-largest tribe in the country, upheld an earlier decision to expel its Black descendents, called Freedmen.

The link in question between African Americans and Indians goes back to the 1800s, when the US Government began to forcibly remove the tribes from their land. By that time many Indians had adopted the Europeans’ inclination for slaves, who were forced to accompany them on the “Trail of Tears.”

As the Civil War ensued, the Indian nations freed their slaves and the majority of the ‘Freedmen’ were granted citizenship within their tribes. They received full rights as citizens, including access to health care and education benefits. With the repeal of said citizenship, thousands of ‘Freedmen’ descendents will lose those benefits and find themselves once again shunned for a history of subjugation.

This time, however, it’s at the hands of another historically abused minority group. Which begs to question:

Is camaraderie and understanding between minority groups a moot expectation?

MLK "I Have a Dream"

For more information on the ongoing legal battles visit the website for the “Descendants of Freedom of the Five Civilized Tribes.”

The Intern Diaries: The Voice of Social Media

The Intern Diaries: The Voice of Social Media

On yesterday, while on my lunch break I experienced my first earthquake. I was sitting in a park, near my place of work when the ground started to shake. Like many of the bystanders, I too was confused with what had just happened. Quickly, I reached for my iphone but when I went to call out, I had no dial tone. So I tweeted, in hopes that someone from my immediate family in SC would be able to view the tweet and to know that I was ok. I got a reply from who I thought was my sister but it was my grandmother tweeting from her page. Who knew my grandmother knew how to tweet?

I never realized how much social media had grown until that moment. I knew it was evolving but I had no clue that it reached a different generation until I found a study from PEW Reach Survey Findings about America's Largest Generation and social media.

Social Media has become an important source of communication. 

As we were given the ok to re-enter the buildings, I observed as my colleagues tweeted, text, e-mail and instant message their loved ones. Social media has become our voice when all other communications platform silences us.

What do Science and PR Week share in common?

What do Science and PR Week share in common?

For better and worst, both publications have spotlighted disturbing gaps, exclusion and omission of worthy African American professionals in the respective fields of biomedical research and public relations.

Science, the journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, published a study revealing that Black researchers are systematically denied coveted NIH research grants, regardless of education, training, citizenship, country of origin and prior research and publication history.  The study found that Black applicants are 10 percentage points less likely than Whites to be awarded NIH research funding. 

PR Week, a stalwart trade publication, churned out a special edition in July anointing “50 PR Power Elites.”  In a field where women dominate, a whopping 39 of the 50 titans were men.  None were African Americans! 

Two of my colleagues, incensed about the bias, weighed in with a strong missive to PR Week editor Steve Barrett.

Where the PR Week and NIH case diverge is in the institutional response. 

Barrett, high-handed and unapologetic, pushed back against criticism by declaring that he never considers race, gender or ethnicity in a selection process.  He went on to define power and influence as the big corporate entities that rake in the largest revenue. 


Switch screens to the NIH. The findings of exclusion brought sober reflection and an acknowledgment that the status quo was unacceptable.

NIH officials pledged immediate action to correct the inequality. "In order to improve the health outcomes of all Americans, it's important for the biomedical workforce to reflect the diversity of the population," lead author Donna Ginther, professor of economics at the University of Kansas, said in an NIH news release." As the population becomes increasingly diverse, we will continue to get further from that goal unless the community intervenes."

PR Week’s Barrett got it right when he said he doesn’t see race. Apparently having the luxury to be blind to color, he sees only people who look like him.  Diversity requires an intentional and focused gaze on race. It demands an embrace of those who are different across a spectrum, and the beneficiaries are not just the once excluded; everyone ends up better off.  I’m left with two questions: Do I cancel my subscription to PR Week? Or start my own “PR Power” list?

A Letter to Steve Barrett, Editor of PR Week

August 18, 2011

Steve Barrett, Editor 
PRWeek

steve.barrett@prweek.com 

Dear Mr. Barrett: 

We were surprised and disappointed to see so little diversity reflected in PRWeek’s 2011 Power List of 50 “elite” public relations pros. Apparently PRWeek still defines power rather narrowly. In a profession where women predominate, PRWeek found only 11 powerful women, and in a field increasingly driven by multicultural markets, PRWeek couldn’t find any powerful African American or Latino PR corporate executives. It appears that public relations executives who are running their own shops also were not worthy of the power list. 

Your publication’s vision of power and elite PR professionals closely resembles that of Mad Men, the fictionalized television show reflecting the status quo of an earlier era. In our 21^st century global media landscape fueled as much by independent social media as the corporate behemoths, does PRWeek really believe that power and influence are the exclusive province of white males in corporate settings? 

If the parameters for inclusion were simply corporate size or billings, how were so many worthy picks overlooked? Consider African American corporate executives like Don Coleman, GlobalHue CEO; Y. Mark Belton, General Mills Executive Vice President for Global Strategy; Olivia Smashum, HBO Executive Vice President for Affiliate Marketing & Business Development; or Gwen Fortune-Blakely, Marriott Sr. Director of Marketing Integration & Brand Marketing.

Where are Latino senior executives like Univision Vice President for Corporate Communications Monica Talan or Javier Farfan, Director of Cultural Branding at PepsiCo? Why not include Jorge Moya, Chief Creative Officer at Latino agency powerhouse MGSCOMM?

Astonishingly, America’s changing face with its multi-hues and backgrounds was not reflected in your tribute. Nor did you consider the rapidly evolving field of public relations that includes myriad entities and organizations ranging from boutique firms to shops within public interest organizations that are reframing public policy and our communications landscape. Does PRWeek honestly believe that the executives shaping the messages and communications strategies for the nation’s non-profits and advocacy groups don’t exercise power within our profession and the larger public square? Perhaps the core question is how do you define power?

 

Today, a number of women, African American and Latino PR professionals broker power in ways that lift the industry to new heights. PRWeek owes it to those leaders and the profession to support a vision for the future that incorporates diversity in leadership as a best practice. Women constitute a majority of the population in a world that is increasingly black and brown. Our teams and our strategies must reflect the people we aim to reach and influence.  

Sincerely, 
Donna Lewis Johnson and Llenda Jackson Leslie

McKinney & Associates

Join Our Team!

Do you have a passion for social justice? Are you a strong communicator with a background in journalism and/or public relations? If you answered “yes” to both of those questions, you may just be who we’re looking for! McKinney & Associates is currently searching for a paid fall intern (recent graduates preferred) and an account associate. If you think you’re a match for either of the positions, please email us your resume and cover letter.

Race, Class and Generational Warfare

Richard Prince takes a look at media coverage of UK riots and the often racialized terms of debate. One historian’s comment on BBC that “whites have become black” drew 700 complaints. Read more about media analysis and coverage of the riots here.

Colorline’s Global Justice writer, Michelle Chen accuses British courts of working overtime to impose extreme sentences for stealing bottled water or posting incendiary messages on Facebook. Chen contrasts that with the treatment of disgraced British corporate and government officials. You can check out Chen’s commentary here.

Diversity: Educating the Future, a Majority of Minorities

Diversity: Educating the Future, a Majority of Minorities

Latino employment and education seem to be hot topics in the blogosphere nowadays, especially with the ongoing, heated immigration debates. Regardless of what your stance on the latter issue, one thing is certain: the Latino population is booming in the U.S. By 2050 it is expected they will make up 29 percent of the American population.

But Latino representation in higher education is still lagging. “Almost one in four school-aged American children is Latino, but a report released earlier this year by the White House showed those children achieve ‘the lowest education attainment levels’ in the country.”

Even while “college and career readiness among 2011 Hispanic high school graduates … shows slow but steady improvement, particularly in the areas of math and science,” youth of color are still suffering from historic “disinvestment in public education, social services and youth development.”

The good news is that some institutions, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) recognize the dilemma and are increasing recruitment at mostly Hispanic high schools and community colleges.

Of course as Latino enrollment in post-secondary education programs grows, students will most likely face the counter-productive criticism of race-based acceptance, but let’s deal with that when we get there.

To The Left: Memorial Me This

To The Left: Memorial Me This

The National Mall is filled with memorials. There are iconic memorials to presidents, such as the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. There are memorials dedicated to wars and the people who served in them, including the The District of Columbia War Memorial (WWI), Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Women in Vietnam Memorial and the newest, the World War II Memorial.

And when you think about it, you can make the case that the Washington and Lincoln Memorials are also war memorials as they were wartime presidents. Okay, Washington wasn’t officially a “wartime” president; however, it was his extraordinary leadership during the Revolutionary War that won his election to the presidency. The point is, in a lot of ways, the National Mall can be construed as a memorial to America’s warring ways.

How is it then that a memorial to one of the country’s greatest advocates and speakers for peace and justice is perfectly set amongst those of war?

The answer is quite simple, while Dr. King may not have held a rifle or stormed a beach, his battles against systemic racism were no less significant and his victories over injustice were no less sweet.

What battles have you won without firing a single shot?

Photo: Marvin Joseph/Getty Images first appeared http://abcnews.go.com/US/mlk-memorial-million-shy-reaching-goal/story?id=14309127

The Intern Diaries: Internal Mentoring

The Intern Diaries: Internal Mentoring

Over the weekend I was browsing the web and discovered an old article about the importance of having a mentor, The New Rules of Mentoring.

After reading the article, I realized how very grateful I am to have wonderful mentors. In fact I would say that I’m truly blessed to be able to work with two of them, Ryan Duncan and Tamara Braunstein. It has been a little over a month since I started interning at McKinney, but having them both take me under their wings and push me to be great says not only that they care about my work, but also about my wellbeing.

I think it is extremely important to have a mentor in your workplace. My mentors have become the people I go to for advice and help when I don’t understand or know how to do something.

The truth of the matter is; you’re never too old to learn from someone else regardless of your age or professional title. Having a mentor can benefit you in the long run because once upon a time they too were in your shoes.

Trade Tips: 7 Tips For Writing Emails That Won’t Get Deleted

Trade Tips:

7 Tips For Writing Emails That Won’t Get Deleted

Goodness knows they interrupt our conversations and thoughts by their arrivals with a “ding” (or your preferred sound effect). While at times it can be annoying and you’re tempted to DELETE ALL, email is a tool that allows for quick delivery of documents, images and messages to one person and/or the masses.  As public relations professionals, we are born to communicate—but when is it useless chatter? How do you get to the point so your email won’t be deleted?

A colleague shared these email writing tips from Inc.com, and we’re gifting them to you:

1. Eliminate Delete-Inducing Words

Get rid of all verbiage that activates the delete response. Here are some serious offenders: exciting, state-of-the-art, solution, partner, leading edge, passion, unique and one-stop shopping.

2. Keep Your Message Simple

Your email needs to be less than 90 words. Use 2-sentence paragraphs so it can be scanned. Stick with common black fonts (no colors) and never include more than one link or attachment.

3. Align With Their Objectives

Research your prospect's specific company, industry or position. Make sure your e-mail mentions an important business objective, strategic imperative, issue or challenge. Relevance is essential.

4. Focus on Immediate Priorities

Identify key business events that may be impacting your prospect's priorities and tie your message into that. Examples might be: relocations, mergers, management changes or new legislation.

5. Be an Invaluable Resource

Your product or service may be a commodity, but you're not. In your e-mails, focus on the ideas, insights and information you can share that will be of value to your prospect in reaching their goals.

6. Craft Enticing Subject Lines

Your subject line determines if your message gets read. Avoid sales hype and focus on business issues such as: "Quick question re: outsourcing initiative" or "Reducing product launch time."

7. Launch a Campaign

Do eight to 12 touches (via e-mail and phone) over a four-to-six week time period, with each contact building off the previous one. Provide links to resources. Spotlight the value of changing from the status quo.

For more info, click here: http://www.inc.com/guides/201108/7-tips-for-writing-e-mails-that-wont-get-deleted.html

Be Well: At-home care is a booming business

Be Well: At-home care is a booming business

America’s aging population and new health insurance laws are creating a growing demand for in-home health workers. More and more, families are hiring home health aides and certified nursing assistants to care for a loved one. But while demand for these frontline workers is increasing, the career ladder is wobbly. Industry experts agree that more needs to be done to provide professional training and advancement opportunities.

Are you an in-home health care worker?  Or have you hired an in-home health careworker? Tell us about your experience.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/home-health-aides-are-in-demand-as-hospitals-nursing-homes-try-to-trim-rolls/2011/07/06/gIQAJTYRHJ_story.html

Criminal Justice: Tale of Two Cities - San Francisco police and BART overreact to protests DC police fail to react to hate crime against lesbians

Criminal Justice:

Tale of Two Cities - San Francisco police and BART overreact to protests DC police fail to react to hate crime against lesbians

Last week, San Francisco’s transit authorities stepped on the First Amendment, in the supposed interest of preventing commuter protests on BART, the regional subway system, by closing cell phone access on the system.

The protests have been ongoing since July when police shot and killed two civilians on BART in separate incidents, that sparked massive protests.

Media reports on CNN and the Christian Science Monitor indicate that this is the first time police in the US have blocked cell phone access to suppress protests although it has happened in Syria and Iran. You can read more about it at http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2011/0812/To-defuse-flash-protest-BART-cuts-riders-cell-service.-Is-that-legal

Meanwhile, DC cops are under investigation for refusing to take a police report when lesbians reported being assaulted by a group of men who used homophobic slurs and then beat them. After local advocacy groups complained, Chief Lanier intervened and hate crime charges were filed. More on the incident from DCist http://dcist.com/2011/08/lanier_says_cops_could_be_let_go_af.php

U.S. Postal Service to cut 120,000 jobs

CBS correspondent Betty Ngyen reported that the U.S. Postal Service wants to cut 120,000 jobs as it reports another loss in revenue.

“This will be the service second straight year of 8 billion dollars in losses, officials propose cutting 120,000 jobs and setting up health and pension plans for postal workers, replacing the regular federal plans, both steps require approval by congress.”

Diversity: Tap or Bottle? Your Skin Color May Tell the Answer

Tap or Bottle? Your Skin Color May Tell the Answer

In the years since major brands like Coca-Cola and Nestle first decided to bottle and sell water, a mostly-free and vital resource, marketing tactics have gone from convincing consumers that “it tastes better” to “it’s healthier” to “it will improve your life.”

Despite plenty of evidence to the contrary on all three counts – including that “municipal tap water is the source for 47.8% of bottled water” – big brands continue to up their game and push their campaigns. That’s not really news, except that, according to a recent study, Black and Latino parents are three times more likely than white parents to buy bottled water for their children.

Taking into consideration that the National Resources Defense Council found unsafe levels of bacteria in 17% of bottled water and chemical contamination in 22%, and the average price of a bottle water is about 500 times higher than filling a glass from the kitchen sink, don’t you wonder why more isn’t being done to market the truth to populations already suffering from huge health and economic disparities?

Weekly Poll: Does Nostalgia Trump Cutting the Budget?

Does Nostalgia Trump Cutting the Budget?

At least 19 District Post Offices are scheduled to close.  And nationwide, the number could be in the thousands.  Yes, it’s true, Facebook, Twitter, email and texting have all but rendered postcards and letters obsolete.  In fact, we can even pay our bills online.  And when you do need a stamp—well, you can get those online, too (and lots of places other than the post office).

So why do we need so many local post offices?  With everyone needing to do serious belt-tightening, does it make sense to keep this dinosaur fed?

According to one local columnist—"Post offices aren't simply depots for purchasing stamps or shipping off packages at Christmas time. They are critical cultural institutions that reflect America's history and an important aspect of its daily life," writes the Examiner's Jonetta Rose Barras. "There should be a national campaign to preserve them."

What do you think?  Will you miss them when they are gone?  Do you agree that we should “save the post office”?

Do you agree that we should “save the post office”?
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