communicator-sept. 15th edition

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The Communicator News, September 15-30, 2012

Mike De Rose has been a musicalstaple in the Racine area for over 28years, playing in a variety of differentmusical incarnations. Jason Weberlong time friend of De Rose theirband First Avenue, recently pro-duced their CD appropriately enti-tled “Reunion," which is a prod-

uct of this long distance collaboration. Icaught up with Mike and asked him somequestions about his career.

Q: How long have you been playing

and performing?

A: I’ve been playing since I was 14years old and performing in clubs since Iwas 18.I’m 46 now.

Q: How did you and Jason come to

meet and perform together?

A: We were teaching at "The MusicStore” together way back in the early90’s. He had a Jazz Duo called FirstAvenue . His guitarist was leaving and heasked if I would fill some dates with him.That took off and we played quite a bit inthe Kenosha, Racine, Milwaukee area.Smooth Jazz was really popular in the90’s so it worked well. That lasted forabout four years. Jason now lives inCalifornia .

Q: How do you collaborate with

Jason long distance?

A: We’ll send ideas over the internet ifwe are doing a project, but when werecord I will usually fly there for a weekor more and do the actual recording. Ilike to be in the same room with the per-son I’m working with if possible. It's alittle more “real” that way.

Q: What are your musical influ-

ences?

A: I remember as a kid listening to theradio quite a bit in the 70’s, so I got pret-ty familiar with those songs. When I start-ed playing Guitar in the 80’s it was most-ly Heavy Metal that influenced me. Inthe 90’s it was Jazz, Blues and R&B with

a little country thrown in for good meas-ure.

Q: How would you describe or cate-

gorize your variety of music?

A: I would call itVariety.

Q:

What

are

the

vari-

eties of

music

that you

perform

(i.e. with

Jason, Duo

Sonic, as a

soloist)?

A: WithJason I would

say we playcontemporary

jazz with afusion twist!

Duosonic is all over the map. BrianBeasley is the vocalist for that and he cansing anything! When I do my solo stuffit’s mostly Smooth Jazz with some crazystuff thrown in once in a while.

Q: What are your favorite venues to

play at?

A: In California it’s The Namm Show(a musician’s convention) and a Place

Called "Felix’s BBQ With Soul." In theMidwest there are so many venues andthey all have something fun an andunique to each other.

Q: What are your inspirations for

your original music?

A: I don’t write from inspiration real-ly. It’s more from the I have to write asong standpoint so here goes. I don'twrite much.

Q: When did you begin playing gui-

tar and who were your teachers?

A: Like I said above, I was 14 when Istarted. I used to cut through this yarddown the block and heard this kid playingguitar and thought it was cool. His nameis Mike Priaulx. We became friends andhe showed me how to play Stairway ToHeaven by Led Zeppelin. That makeshim my first guitar teacher. After that wasTony Collova at Pulice Music. He was agreat teacher as well. He taught you whatYOU wanted to learn but he would sneakin really important music theory typestuff without you really knowing!

Q: What is your favorite variety of

music to play when you are alone?

A: Be Bop Jazz/Fusion.Q: What kinds of music or perform-

ers do you enjoy listening to?

A: Really everything…I’m all over themap.

Q: Tell me about the process of cre-

ating the “ Reunion ” CD and how did

you pick the tunes for the project?

A: Well about two years ago I was inCalifornia for The Namm Show and to doa few gigs with Jason. We were just

hanging out at his studio and just startedtalking about doing a duo project withacoustic guitar and sax. We came up withthe song Reunion right then and there.

We thought we would maybe write afew new songs and re-work some of ourolder tunes to fit a more "world music"sound. Over the next year we sent ideasback and forth and recorded the musicand took some photos the followingJanuary when I was in town again. Welike the way it turned out.

Q: Do you feel that living in the

Racine area has influenced your musi-

cal process and experiences?

A: I would say living in the Midwestin general has an influence because thereare so many great musicians around here.You learn so much from just playing andwatching everyone.

Q: Does family and friends play a

part in your life as a musician?

A: Well, It helps to have the supportof family and friends. My wife Kadi has a“real” job with insurance and all thatstuff. Kadi has inspired and encouragedme throughout the years, often lendingideas for riffs in some of his originalsongs. My parents Katy and Ron DeRosehave always been a constant support. Youwill frequently find them in the audience.

De Rose performs in a couple ofother projects such as his duo with vocal-ist Brian Beasley in Duosonic. Beasley,Mike describes, as a “vocalist that cansing anything.” I can tell you from myown experience listening to this pair thatyou will always be entertained by theirvariety of vintage and contemporary cov-ers. They are “tight” in their performanceand have a personable stage presence.Their music is “all over the map” in otherwords something for everyone of everyage and musical preference. You can alsosee DeRose as a soloist, which is mostlysmooth jazz, with what he terms as some“crazy stuff thrown in." . And finallywhen Mike’s many musical friends are inthe crowd, he frequently invites them toplay with him on stage. Needless to saywhen you are looking for truly great livemusic, if you find Mike DeRose’s nameattached you can count on a unique quali-ty musical experience.

To contact Mike DeRose for bookingsand up to date schedule informationcheck him out at,http://www.myspace.com/mikederosemu-sic www.cdbaby.com/cd/deroseweber, [email protected]


Traveling First Avenue Communicator Review

By: Ann Saleno

Paul Ryan gave a feisty anti-Obamaspeech that will have fact-checkers work-ing for days. His most brazen lie accusedPresident Obama of “raiding” Medicareby taking the exact same $716 billion thatRyan and the House GOP notoriouslyvoted to slash. It was stunning.

But that’s not all. He attacked Obamafor failing to keep open a Janesville GMplant that closed under Bush in 2008. He

hit him for a credit-rating downgrade thatS&P essentially blamed on GOP intransi-gence. He claimed that all taxpayers gotfrom the 2009 stimulus was “more debt,”when most got a tax cut (and the stimulusis known to have saved between 1.4 and3.3 million jobs). He derided the presi-dent for walking away from the SimpsonBowles commission deficit-cutting rec-ommendations when Ryan himself, a

commission member, voted against thoserecommendations.

He blamed Obama for a deficit mostlycreated by programs he himself voted for– from two wars, tax cuts, new Medicarebenefits and TARP.

And of course, he riffed on the tiredcentral lie of the GOP convention: thatthe president said “government gets thecredit” for small businesses, not the busi-ness owners themselves.

Other than that, it was a great speech.Interestingly, for all his lies, Ryan did-

n’t repeat the Romneycamp’s false claim thatObama did away with thewelfare system’s workrequirements. Maybe heran out of time.

Ryan got off a fewgood zingers: “Collegegrads shouldn’t have tolive out their 20s inchildhood bedrooms,staring up at fadingObama posters.” He did-n’t mention that heopposed legislation tokeep student loan ratesfrom doubling. Hisremarks about his child-

hood were slightly moving. He talkedabout losing his father at 16, and hecalled his mother, who went back toschool and to work after that, his rolemodel. But he never mentioned the SocialSecurity death benefits that let him go toan out-of-state school. Occasionally heseemed to be going after swing voters,rather than his hard-right base, taking amore in sorrow than anger tone aboutObama’s failings. Then he’d mix thingsup with nastiness and lies


News: We want our stories to be local, we want to write stories that are unusual, interest-ing to the people in the community. Profile local people and share their stories with thecommunity. We will cover elected officials, politics and others who are well known in thecommunity. When a story is developing we will do a series of stories on the subject. Wefeel we have an obligation to our readers to report the news that impacts them.Social Issues: How do social issues impact the community economically, politically, envi-ronmentally and how do these issues relate to people’s lives.Entertainment Events: The fun stuff that causes a buzz in the community, festivals, con-certs, street parties and photos of the fun.In Review: We review restaurants, art galleries, (local and distant) movies, books localbands and clubs from well known to the obscure. Neckboneology: Local editorial from a minority point of view. Ken Lumpkin brings 20years of insight to the Communicator. Rocky on the Prowl: Who knows where Rocky will show up and what’s on this mind, waitand find out.

About us!…

Peace Learning Circles (PLC) is sponsoringthe 2nd Annual Circles of Peace 2012 fromSeptember 11 – 21, International Day of Peace.The theme is Peace Begins Here: Civility inour Community. The purpose is to bringawareness of how we can better treat eachother every day. We will focus on respect, val-ues, inclusion, unity and having a safe place soeveryone can live together in peace. Circles ofPeace 2012 Opening Ceremony

The Opening Ceremony take place onSeptember 11, 2012 at First PresbyterianChurch, 716 College Ave., Racine WI. PrasadGollanapalli, a Gandhian scholar and Directorof the Gandhi King Foundation will be thekeynote speaker, along with a local peace men-tor, Pastor Tony Larsen. Before the programbegins and following the program, there will bea resource fair in the adjoining hall.Participants will have the opportunity to meetorganizations and businesses that have informa-tion about products and services that contributeto a more peaceful lifestyle and community inwhich we live. In addition to the notable speak-ers, there will be local community membersthat will share their talent and passion forpeace.

Opening Ceremony: September 11, 2012 Resource Fair – 6:00 p.m. prior to programProgram: 7:00 p.m.Resource Fair & Reception following pro-

gram 1st Presbyterian Church, 716 CollegeAve., Racine WI

Circles of Peace 2012 Closing Ceremony:The Closing Ceremony will feature keynote

speaker, Dr. Clayborne Carson, Professor ofAmerican History, Director of Martin LutherKing, Jr. Research and Education Institute atStanford University. The Closing Ceremonywill be held at UW-Parkside, Bedford Hall onSeptember 21 at 7:00 p.m.

Selected in 1985 by the late Mrs. CorettaScott King to edit and publish the papers of herlate husband, Stanford University historianClayborne Carson has devoted most his profes-sional life to the study of Martin Luther King,Jr., and the movements King inspired. Underhis direction, the King Papers Project has pro-duced six volumes of a definitive, comprehen-sive edition of speeches, sermons, correspon-dence, publications, and unpublished writings.Dr. Carson has also edited numerous otherbooks based on King's papers. In 2005 theKing Papers Project became part of the MartinLuther King, Jr., Research and EducationInstitute at Stanford University, with Dr.Carson serving as the institute's founding direc-tor.

Closing Ceremony, September 21, 2012 – 7:00p.m., UW-Parkside, Bedford Hall, Rita TallentPicken Regional Center, 900 Wood Road,Kenosha WI

Visit our website at www.peacelearningcir-cles.org to get more information, view theevents, make donations, and find FAQ’sregarding Circles of Peace 2012.

Dr. Clayborne Carson,

Peace Learning Circles, Inc. Phone: 262-939-1285 • www.peacelearningcircles.org

Peace Learning Circles (PLC) is sponsoring the 2nd Annual

Circles of Peace 2012 from September 11 – 21

Vice President hopeful Paul Ryan’s brazen lies


By Lauren Jean

If you need a change in some-thing it definitely could be yourwhite white walls. Just moving intoa new place and noticing all thewalls are just to clean, to perfectlywhite that they just need a sprinkleof you. There are a lot of creativeways to express yourself and feelgood in your home.

First, you can use pictures, but inmy opinion huge framed photos orpainted pictures are just as boringas the white walls behind them, soI suggest tapestries or wall hang-ings. It's always nice to find somecheap ones on eBay or some otheronline store because you won't findthem just anywhere. Some are handstitched and it brings a little spe-cialty to your place. I like to findmy favorite band's tapestries orsome pretty flower designs.Ethnicity can come into play veryeasy here on finding what you likeby who it's made by. Fabrics arealso found at Joann Fabrics that candefinitely help you make your owntapestry and looking up tactics onthe internet to help you learn howto sew and create a nice boarder toit, then go get it framed or frame ityourself.

Second, if you have the time andfeel creative you can always makea collage of pictures. I take a lot ofphotos of trees and flowers andwith the photos you can cut themup and place them together anyway you like. This also gives

dimension to yourhome. If you take pho-tos of the sky and ofwater and I have a fewphotos of doorways andarches that I found at theDeKoven Center. Behindthe center is a historicalgarden and one day I gotsome film and my sisterand I went down there andtook some photos of us bysome graves and crypts andalso the other beautiful monu-ments around there. Anyways,when I look at the photos Iplaced on my wall it's as if Ican literally walk through intoanother demension that hidesbehind my wall. Photographs canreally extenuate your home, and itall depends on what you like andthat is whats going to bring a littlemore you into your in living space.

Third, A flower wall. You willneed three things to create this. Aglue gun, as many presentationthree paneled poster boards tocover the wall, and flowers, lots ofthem. You can always literally gluethe flowers on your wall if you feelcomfortable enough, or if you don'twant to wreak your wall with gluethen get as many three paneledpresentation poster boards thatwould be needed to cover theamount of space you've chosen.Then go to Michaels or HobbyLobby and grab the types of flow-ers you'd like to use whether they

beall the same or

different; you can mix col-ors to make your wall more special.Once you bought a whole bunch offake flowers, start popping the topsoff like you used to do when youwere little with dandelions:

“Mama had a baby and the headpopped off.”

Then glue the bottoms of themon the entire board so no white isshowing and keep doing this tillyour satisfied. Hang the boardswith nails, string, nail them on thewall, or however is suitable.

Fourth, organize! Find cheap fur-niture that is comfortable of course,we all know that pretty couch noone likes sitting on, but little waysto make your place come alive isfinding interesting furniture to putall your stuff in. I like to find oddthings that can keep all my littlethings in a safe and specific spot. Ienjoy furniture and the nicer thingseven if I have absolutely no moneyto buy magazine art, not that I likethe perfected home. I would sug-gest visiting Good Will, SalvationArmy, or the old school way go

throughalleys around Spring

is best, and search for that pieceof treasure someone threw away.

Sometimes people have time ontheir hands and don't know what todo with it, so there are few creativeideas that might help anyoneunwind and just let go of someextra energy. There are a lot ofthings to do if you find theresources. Hobby Lobby is a goodstore, finding anything interestingon the internet, Michaels, JoannFabrics, Good Will, estate sales,rummage sales, and thrift stores aremy favorite places to go. Thoughof course a lot of people here arethinking this maybe a little poor orchildish, BUT it gives dimensionand doing little things that forceeffort from yourself like this defi-nitely will naturally spice yourhome up just a little more, and thisgives your own touch of energyyou can love and then make memo-ries. If you have kids letthem take part,give themsomethingto do ifschool isn'tenough.

Fill Your Walls


The year was 1939 and Ed Sherwood was a young man look-ing over his property for what was soon to be his game farm Theonly other building in his site was the newly erected buildingaround the Horlick Airport to the rear of this property."I tried tobuy some of the property around here but they wouldn't sell it tome".

Fast forward some 70 years plus and Ed Sherwood is stillstanding on this property stills runs a game farm, and HorlickField is now called Batten Airport and is still in operation. Butthat's where the similarities end. Ed Sherwood now a spry 88 yearold talks about the houses and subdivisions he saw built aroundthis home. "There's a picture at the airport that has this house andthe airport that's it". As he walked around the farm he explainedhis game farm is state certified, "It's what I've done all my life".Walking past some of the newer building giving way to openpens where chickens, geese, pheasants, and ducks are housed, "Ifthey get along I put them together" Some of the unusual breedswere in different areas of the farm "someone from Texas wants200 of those geese but I'm having a hard time raising them," as he

pointed to the pen. As he turned the corner of the pen a deafeningchorus of guinea hens (Ginny hens) sounded the alarm "They tellyou if anyone is back here". When asked if he had any troublewith neighbors, "No not really, I guess they figured I was herefirst."

Walking swiftly past the tractor into the feed room, Ed explainsthe hopper where he grinds his own feed. "We make a special feedthat they really like." Along with the geese and chickens, he raisesrabbits, mandarin ducks, turkeys, ring neck pheasants and swinhoepheasants. "Those are from Germany." Quail ,peacock, pigeonsand other waterfowl round out the farm. Who are his customers?"I get a lot of Indian and Hindu people, they like the Ginny hensand a lot of people concerned about what their eating." "There's alot of stuff in those store bought meats." We're all natural, peoplelike that." In addition Ed sells eggs of all kinds and has a plot ofland where he raises fresh vegetables. He travels to the local farmmarkets, including Cudahy, Milwaukee, 7 mile fair and sellsdirectly from the farm, "I get people coming from all over." As wecircled around to the back of the house I spoke to a neighbor who

The Year Was 1939

Communicator Special Feature

The Sherwood Game Farm Story

Turn to page 6


Sherwood From page 6

has lived next to Ed for 8 years. "He and his sonare great guys." It's kind of like living next to azoo, It makes me laugh". Ed then settles himself ina chair against the garage door." I'd like to make itto 100 years old." Then as he pauses and leansback in his chair, "After that, I don't give a damn".

The Sherwood game farm is located at 2713 3Mile Rd. Racine WI. Phone 262-989-6030 thewebsite is sherwood-gamefarm.com

What has happened with the controversysurrounding the community/access/govern-ment programming channel Car 25? Backin 2010, Mayor John Dickert recommend-ed Vice President of Soura Films SandyPetrykowski to be awarded a one-year con-tract to renovate Car 25.

The City of Racine’s Finance andPersonnel Committee then held a meetingto discuss paying the Emmy-nominatedvideographer $40,000 for an average workweek of 20 hours. The first meeting tabledthe issue to accommodate further discus-sion which ensued later, drawing largeattendance. Petrykowski ended up takingher hat out of the ring for the contract posi-tion. And the position was reposted for asalary of $16.30 per hour. Mayor Dickertalso indicated that if cable commissionmembers wanted to apply they would haveto resign from their roles.

The position posting was eventuallyeliminated and it was decided that themoney would be used toward the purchaseof new equipment for the station instead.

Two years later, the controversy contin-ues. Former Car 25 Cable CommissionerWayne Clingman in a recent interview saida documentary on Mayor John Dickert’srace was to have been developed byPetrykowski in 2010, but to Clingman’sknowledge, he said, “To date, I do notknow of anyone who has seen it.”

Clingman said he also does not agreewith the politics surrounding the Car 25cable channel.

“In my opinion. Car 25’s mission is tobe a public access channel, featuring com-munity members,” Clingman. “It seems tobe turning into an outlet for Mayor Dickertfor his own interests and propaganda.”

When Clingman served as the Cable

Commissioner from 2005-2008, he saidCar 25 served the needs of the community.

“Many of the commission members whoI worked with were dismissed because oftheir opposition to the hiring ofPetrykowski,” Clingman said. “Today’scommission seems to be comprised ofmany individuals who have no experiencewith cable whatsoever.” He cited that onemember is a former cook.

Clingman said he believes the mayorhas his own agenda when it comes to Car25.

“I find it disgusting,” Clingman said.“There are just too many items that aren’ttransparent when it comes to the way thecable station is being run.”

Another source, who wishes to remainunidentified, said that “there may not beany funds to operate Car 25 in the future,and the project could be shut down andthen restarted with a newly assembledteam.”

Alderman and Car 25 CableCommission member Ray DeHahn said forthe project to be shut down there wouldneed to be a request for proposal (RFP).

“Our intention is to make the channelsomething the people of the communitywant to watch,” DeHahn said. “The mayoris pushing for more educational programs,and there are currently a lot of communityshows on there. I don’t believe we will bereceiving any more money next year forour budget. And without more money,change won’t come easy,” DeHahn said.

Please stay tuned for more articles cov-ering this subject in future editions of TheCommunicator. Other individuals from thecommission and the mayor’s office did notrespond as of press time.

Is Car 25 turning into a propaganda channel?

Started in 2003, CAR25 is located in the City Annex, located800 Center Street.


Our Need For William Shatnerby: Kenneth McCormIn the old days, well old days to you

but not such old days to me, certainactors and actresses would become sopopular that they would go on seeminglyforever in films, until they were not ableto do the job any longer or died. Some ofthese people were Henry Fonda, JohnWayne, Jimmy Stewart and others. Thiswas said to be attributed to their greatskill at acting. We would watch one oftheir movies and say things like, wow hestill has it. That was a complement whichmeant he still was a great actor. Thesenames were so powerful that when theywould appear on a movie marquee, manypeople would rush to see the movie, justbecause a certain person was in it. I guessyou would have to say that this was thegolden age of movies. Then somethingvery profound happened. Television start-ed to become popular. With televisionhowever, it was much harder to attain thistype of status, although in the beginning afew did like Milton Berle and JackBenny, two comedians. Then it happened,one person came on to the scene in thesixties and his fame is still with us to day.

William Shatner was not an actor thatyou would put into the class of a Fonda,Taylor, or Bogart. He never claimed thathe was. He began his acting career in1950. He was born in 1931 and kept hisreal name which is very unusual. His fullname is William Alan Shatner and asmost people know, he was born inCanada. His grandfather was WolfSchattner and anglicized the family nameto Shatner. Shatner was raised in the con-servative Jewish religion. When I saidthat Shatner was not in the class of Fondaand others, this was not to say that he wasnot a good actor. He was trained as aclassical Shakespearean actor andappeared in the Stratford Festival ofCanada in Stratford, Ontario. There issomething about Shatner's personalitythat seems to make us like to watch him.I don't know the man since I have nevermet him, but he does come across like avery likeable person. I remember watch-ing him recently on an interview showthat he had on cable and he interviewedLeonard Nimoy. Icouldn't pull myselfaway from it. Does Shatner have somepower over us that we are not aware of?

There are still a few of us around thatremember the Howdy Doody Show. Itwas a very early tv show for children thatfeatured a marionette as Howdy Doody.Shatner played Ranger Bob in theCanadian Version. Shatner did have someexperience in the movies and was in themovie, The Brothers Karamazov. Heplayed the younger brother. The film fea-tured many big names of the time such asYul Brynner, Lee J. Cobb, RichardBasehart, Albert Salmi, Maria Schell,Clare Bloom and others. AlthoughShatner made many movies other thanStar Trek, I do not believe that is wherehis popularity arose from. It came initial-ly from television. He made at least acouple of the original Twilight Zones,

which are constantly being shown on tele-vision. He also did many voices, butwhen he became the fearless Captain Kirkof the star ship Enterprise, his career wasreally born. As strange as it seems, heprobably didn't know it at the time,because the series was canceled afterabout 90 + episodes, but enjoyed and stillenjoys constant re-runs.

Millions of people have grown upwatching Shatner perform some hammyacting at times in the series, but there wasthat some-thing thathe had thatmade everyepisodeenjoyable.The showbegan tohave a lifeof its own.Star Trekconventionsbegan toappeareverywhereand sudden-ly everything Star Trek became collecta-ble. Kirk (William Shatner) started toappear in small plastic statue form in alldifferent Star Trek toys. People did notseem to be able to get enough of him.Then came the Star Trek movies. Shatnerseemed to have perfected his acting abili-ty to the point where it was even moreenjoyable in the films than it had been onthe tv screen. The first movie was StarTrek: The Motion Picture. Actually itwasn't very good. The next film howeverwas considered one of the best and thatwas Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. The

other films featuring the original castwere Star Trek III: The Search for Spock,Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, StarTrek V: The Final Frontier, StarTrek VI:The Undiscovered Country. The last StarTrek film that Shatner was to appear inwas Star Trek: Generations.

We were all at a point now where weneeded to see Shatner again. It had beensome time since he had appeared on tele-vision. Before I get into that I have to tellyou that Shatner received or was nomi-nated for numerous awards for his acting.Here is a list of them:

2005 Golden Globe: BestPerformance by an Actor in aSupporting Role in a Series, Miniseriesor Motion Picture Made for Television -Winner

1999 Emmy: Outstanding GuestActor in a Comedy Series - Nominee

2004 Emmy: Outstanding GuestActor in a Drama Series - Winner

2005 Emmy: OutstandingSupporting Actor in a Drama Series -Winner

2006 Emmy: OutstandingSupporting Actor in a Drama Series -Nominee


2008 Golden Globe: BestPerformance by an Actor in aSupporting Role in a Series, Miniseries

or Motion Picture Made for Television -Nominee



Shatner was featured in several televi-sion series. They were the $10,000Pyramid, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Battleof the Network Stars, Dr. Kildare, T.J.Hooker, The Defenders, The Late LateShow with Craig Kilborn and thePractice. He also has been the guest staron shows over 260 times and growing.He has appeared in over 52 movies aseither an actor or voice. To this we haveto add that he produced some shows anddirected some episodes of shows.

At 79 years old, as of the writing ofthis article, Shatner is not finished yet andcurrently has a new show to fulfill ourneed to see him, it is called Shatner's RawNerve and appears on the Bio channel. Itis basically an interview show where aguest comes on and is asked interestingquestions by Shatner. It may not be thesame as watching Shatner fight a lizardlooking alien using only whatever is athand, but he is getting a little long in thetooth for that. I guess we will just have tosatisfy our Shatner needs without theaction that used to accompany them. Anold Shatner is better than no Shatner atall.

It’s easy to wonder if that’s true, andbelieve that maybe it is. It wouldn’t bethat way, I suppose, if we had truly beenintegrated into the population from thebeginning, but it seems it was never so.Racine has always had it’s “black com-munity”, ever since Blacks were broughthere, which is how many arrived.

We can go down to Monument Squareand read the story of the escaped slave,Joshua Glover, and how in 1854 he wassprung from jail in Milwaukee by citizensfrom Racine who traveled there and ral-lied residents to join the insurrection. Itshould be a moment that Racine canremember with pride. Of course that’snot how most Black citizens of Racinearrived here. Joshua Glover was hereonly briefly on his way to Canada.

Many of Racine’s Black citizens cantrace their arrival to ancestors who camenorth from Mississippi, Arkansas and

Tennessee during the war years in the1940’s and the industrial boom of the

50’s. Some came independently seekinggreater economic opportunity in industryduring WWII, or escape from the oppres-sion of the South, but most others wereactively recruited by industrial talentscouts who promised them jobs thatwould support a family.

Upon arrival, they often found them-selves trapped in the dirtiest, most dan-gerous jobs in the iron foundries ofRacine, working molten metal in the soot,the smoke and the heat. The foundriesare gone, along with much of the rest ofheavy industry, and that labor is no longerneeded. It seems now that the city viewsthe people who carried that labor in theirbodies as little more than containers to beset out to the curb for recycling, or stuckin the garage to become a historicalcuriosity some time in the future.

I wrote recently of the move that thecity has been making against minority-owned taverns and I think I may need toclarify my concerns regarding that issue.It’s not the taverns that I’m most con-cerned with and it isn’t even the individu-als who own those taverns. What con-cerns me is the fact that some persons,operating under the cover of “the city”,can openly target some citizens for exclu-sion from participation in the local down-town culture.

Whether we agree or disagree with theidea of taverns, or we like or dislike theindividuals who own them, it is to every-one’s detriment if we allow obvious racialdiscrimination to operate without protest.

(Take note that I have been careful torefer to the businesses under scrutiny as

“minority-owned”, and not “Blackowned”. This is because our Hispanicbrethren also seem to be unfit for partici-pation in local culture. More on thatsome other time.)

Well, back to the topic at hand, isRacine done with Black folks. Of coursenot. Even if there was general agreementamong the “majority” population (whichthere isn’t), it would be a ridiculously dif-ficult and expensive undertaking to relo-cate such a large part of the population.So those with fantasies of putting us all“on a boat” would suffer less anxieties ifthey simply get over that notion, it ain’tgonna happen.

And as for the dream of a “minorityfree” business district, whether it bedowntown or uptown or any other part oftown, it would be wise to let that go aswell. The taxpayers have already fundedthat particular dream to the tune of morethan $100,000 just in legal fees and themeter is about to start running faster. It’stime to wake up before that dreambecomes a full-blown nightmare.

The tax money that has been financingthat “dream” would be better spent onschools, community centers and public

education programs that create betterunderstanding and cooperation among allcitizens. Over the course of the last sev-eral years, programs such as OIC, TheUrban League and The George BrayCenter have had their funding cut or dis-continued while efforts to destabilize orclose minority taverns have been readilyfunded.

What “the city” needs to realize is thatit has established a documented pattern ofdiscrimination against minority business-es that leaves it vulnerable to litigationthat could far outweigh any expectedgain. Why the few who pursue thiscourse perceive it as a wise choice is amystery. It’s a blatant power play againstan imagined opponent who has neverexhibited adversarial tendencies.

The fact that this “opponent” alreadyoperates from a point of disadvantagespeaks to the bullying nature of the tacticand those who implement it. If they trulywant to represent the people of this com-munity, I think a better approach wouldbe to treat all citizens equally. Promotinga climate of understanding, cooperationand fairness is always better than spread-ing fear and suppression.

NECKBONEOLOGY: Does Racine Think It’s

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U. S. senior citizens, notingGovernment's new budget, which calls forbillions to be spent in Iraq andAfghanistan while billions are cut fromMedicare, are foregoing traditional retire-ment destinations like Florida andArizona and opting for Iraq.

Following up on the new retirementtrend, we went to Kennedy Airport andcaught up with some seniors who werebooked for Baghdad.

“Excuse me,” I asked a group of sen-iors who just stepped off the bus in frontof Saudi Arabian Airlines. “I understandyou’re all heading for Iraq?”

“That’s right,” a man in Bermudashorts replied, and reached into his golfbag. He took out a chapeau in the usualmullah fashion. “Got my black turbanright here. You know what they say?When in Baghdad, do as the Iraqis do.”

“And I have my black burkah,” hiswife added, lifting it from her purse. Sheslipped it over her head and modeled it.“What do you think?”

“Very cute,” I replied. “You’ll fit rightin. Can you please clarify why you’vechosen to retire in Iraq instead of, say,Miami?”

“Simple, son,” a man with a fishingrod, who happened to be wearing a base-ball cap on top of his turban, said, “That’swhere the Medicare money is.”

“Not to mention social security,” hiswife commented.

“The plain fact is, we’d rather eat inIraq than starve in America,” another manadded.

“But aren’t you concerned about safetyissues?” I asked.

“Of course, we are,” the man in theBermudas replied. “But we’re in this forthe long term and, the way things aregoing, we can hardly count on Medicareand social security in America.”

“We’ve got to follow the food,” anoth-er elderly gentleman stated.

“But you could get blown up?” I sug-gested.

“Oh, we thought about that,” the manwith the baseball hat on top of his turbanreplied. “We’ll just have to take ourchances.”

“Never underestimate the power of asenior citizen,” a frail man said, raisinghis fist. “Didn’t you read about the 70-year-old fella who broke the neck of thekid who tried to rob a busload of sen-iors?”

“Yes, I did notice that event,” I toldhim.

“He was a war vet,” one of the womeninformed me, with evident pride.

“Yep, of one American war or anoth-er,” a senior volunteered with a sigh.“Quite a few to choose from.”

“How about suicide bombers?” I daredto ask.

“Bring ‘em on, son,” the frail senior

said, assuming the position of a boxerwith his dukes up.

“But aren’t you forgetting that most ofthe money earmarked for Iraq is for mili-tary activity?” I asked.

“We’re going for the rebuildingmoney,” the man in the Bermudas said.“They’re wasting billions. And we figurewe can get in the way of some of it.”

“And what do you think is going tohappen when Americans see millions ofseniors, retired in Iraq? They can’t just letus starve there, can they?”

“Congress will have to divvy up some-thing for us, and that’s more than they’relikely to do if we stay in America.”

“And something is better than noth-ing,” a woman affirmed.

“But what about the culture gap?” Iasked. “Aren’t you a little set in yourways?”

“Yes, we are,” one of the men admit-ted.

“I notice the turbans. Do you plan onbecoming Muslim?”

“Whatever it takes to get in the way ofsome money,” the man insisted.

“We’ve thought about it,” his wifeinterjected. “And becoming Islamic isbetter than not being able to afford med-ical care.”

“Or starving on what’s left of socialsecurity,” another woman added.

“Do you think you’ll be able to enjoythe usual retirement activities there, like

golf and fishing?” I asked. “No problem,” the man with the golf

bag said. “Iraq may not have the best golfcourses, but I see there’s plenty of desertfor sand traps.”

“I’ve noticed a river runs throughBaghdad,” the man with the fishing rodsaid. “Got to be something in it besidesbody parts.”

“How about you?” I asked a womanwith a tennis racquet.

“I haven’t seen any tennis courtsthere,” she admitted, “but some of thesand should be hard enough for the ball tobounce.”

“What about a net?” I asked. “I guess there’ll be some sacrifices,”

she replied, and looked around at thecrowd. “But I know one thing. I won’thave far to look for someone to playwith.”

“I brought my racket,” another womancalled.

“And, if worse comes to worse,” herhusband advised her, “you can teach anIraqi how to play.”

“Excuse us, son,” one of the men said.“We have to move along now. Can’t missour flight.”

“We’re bound for Baghdad!” his wifealmost sang.

“OK,” I replied. “Thanks for the inter-view. And enjoy your retirement.”

U. S. Seniors RetiringTo Iraq; Say That’sWhere The MedicareMoney Is.by: Tom Attea

communicator-sept. 15th edition

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smooth jazz

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