T H E W K N D F O C U ST H E W K N D F O C U S

FOR THE BROTHERSFOR THE BROTHERSN E W S A N D V I E W S O N A N D F O R O U R B L A C K K I N G S

VOL. XXXI NO. 45 MARCH 7, 2014 50 CENTS BULK RATE U.S. POSTAGE MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN PERMIT 4668

“AndStill WeRise!”Dr. Martin LutherKing, Jr. Schoolhosts 20th annualAfrican AmericanMale Teach-In

Jimmy Johnson, a salesrepresentative for the Mil-waukee Community Jour-nal, was one of 25professional and retiredprofessional Black men ofvarious occupations fromthe community who partic-ipated in the “AfricanAmerican Male Teach-In”at Martin Luther King, Jr.School, located at 3275 N.3rd St. Johnson and theother Black males spentseveral hours “teaching”in various classrooms atthe school, sharing theirlife stories and what theydo professionally with thestudents so as to inspireand motivate them toachieve greatness in what-ever they do. Johnson,who has been participat-ing in the teach-in for sev-eral years, proudly poseswith students who arebrothers that came“dressed for success,” Je-remy and JeremiahNathan. More photos fromthe event inside.

WKNDWKNDPhone: 414-265-5300 (Advertising and Administration) • 414-265-6647 (Editorial) • Website: communityjournal.net • Email: Editorial@communi-tyjournal.net/Advertising@communityjournal.net

Opinion and comments expressed on the Perspectives page do not nec-essarily reflect the views of the publisher or management of the MCJ. Let-ters and “other perspectives” are accepted but may be edited for contentand length.

MCJ STAFF:Patricia O’Flynn -PattilloPublisher, CEORobert J. ThomasAssoc. PublisherTodd Thomas, Vice Pres.Mikel Holt, Assoc. PublisherThomas E. Mitchell, Jr., EditorKia Marie Green, Mang. EditorTeretha Martin, Technical Consultant/WebmasterJosephine Joki, Billing Dept./Publisher’s Admin. Assist.

Colleen Newsom,Classified AdvertisingJimmy V. Johnson, Sales Rep.Joan Hollingsworth, Sales Rep.CONTRIBUTING WRITERS:Taki S. Raton,Rev. Roxanne Cardenas,Troy A. Sparks,Sports EditorPHOTOGRAPHER: Yvonne Kemp

FOCUS

The WKND Focus/For The Brothers March 7, 2014 Page 2

MLKSCHOOL

AFRICANAMERICAN

MALETEACH-IN(PHOTOS

BYYVONNE

“Our children need tosee living examples ofmen who are in lead-ership positions andhave used educationas a tool for suc-cess.”--Quote from MLK AfricanAmerican Male Teach-in program.

The WKND Focus/For The Brothers March 7, 2014 Page 3

BRAINBRAWN&BODYWEBSITEONEYEARANNIVERSARY(PHOTOS BYYVONNEKEMP)

Hip-Hop Hooray! The men’s health and wellness website Brain Brawn & Body turned one yearold last week. The anniversary celebration gala was held at the UWM Zilber School of PublicHealth, 1240 N. 10th St. Joining in the celebration was Mayor Tom Barrett, City Health Com-missioner Bevan Baker, Theresa Jones, Wheaton Franciscan Health VP Diversity and Inclu-sion Strategies; and Michelle Hinton, Senior Director Community Engagement, the AmericanCancer Society. Magda Peck, Dean of the Zilber School of Public Health welcomed the partici-pants at the milestone event. The website has been lauded by health professionals and every-day people alike. Founders Faithe Colas and Eric Von says Brain Brawn & Body fills a criticalvoid in the health care arena and speaks to an audience that is largely overlooked in the healthcare conversation. During the anniversary celebration, the “New Faces” of Brain Brawn & Bodywere introduced. Twenty-four men will adorn the website’s homepage over the next year re-placing what had been stock photos. Visitors to the site will also be able to click on the web-site’s Personal Profile’s page to learn the individual stories of the 24 men.

Milwaukee Urban LeaguePresident and CEO RalphHollmon addressed thegathering as well.

Brain Brawn & Bodyco-founder FaitheColas

Brain Brawn & Body co=fpi

“Closing the gap on healthdisparities and answeringthe critical questionsAfrican American men haveabout their health and thehealth of their familieswere major objectives ofBrain Brawn & Body whenit was conceived. I am soproud of what we have ac-complished to date.”--EricVon, co-founder of BrainBrawn & Body

Five of the 24 new malesfaces who will be high-lighted by the website

The staff of BrainBrawn & Body

The WKND Focus/For The Brothers March 7, 2014 Page 4OPEN LETTER TOLEBRONJAMES(FATHERLESSANGER)By Kenneth Braswell,Executive Director, Fathers Incorporated

NATIONWIDE (BlackNews.com) – Hello Beloved Brother, My name is Kenneth Braswell,

Executive Director of Fathers Incor-porated.

My work for the last 23 years hasbeen in business and not-for-profitleadership on behalf of vulnerablecommunities and Black men andboys.

Today, I read with pain, excite-ment, angst, horror, delight, fear,concern, and urgency what is beingconsidered your open letter to yourfather.

One might wonder how I couldexperience ALL of these emotionsafter reading a short post about anabsent father.

It’s because, well, I am you, I wasyou, and I see young and maturemen like us everyday that too oftenexpress there issues with their fa-thers in unhealthy ways.

I want you to know that I both un-derstand and empathize with howyou feel and the need to express yourtriumph over an obstacle that you perceive is responsible for the struggles you've had in life.Like you, I am a Black man who’s pent-up rage for my absent father drove me to do what I be-lieved to be the right thing, for the right reason, and with the right justification. What I'velearned, however, is that it was ALL wrong.

All over this country, Black males are looking at, following, and emulating every move youmake, because you are a model of hard work and success who encapsulates a pattern and process

they can follow to achieve their own goals and success. Many of these same males have come to know a world where the man responsible for their ex-

istence (their fathers) did not contribute to their lives in the way they needed, desired, or de-served.

This is the reason I am writing you an open letter about your Instagram post(www.instagram.com/p/knuBWwCTPf/) -- I believe that your brave disclosure can bring you andothers closer to understanding, forgiveness, and healing of this fatherless pain and anger.

This is my prayer and heartfelt desire. If you're like many of my friends and family you're probably saying to yourself, "Whatever,"

or, ‘Shut the $&#% up; you don't know what you're talking about!” That's cool, because I saidthe same thing most of my life.

In fact, about five months ago, I was completing a documentary called "Spit'in Anger: Venomof A Fatherless Son." During the filming I interviewed Iyanla Vanzant, Dr.Jeff Gardere, TerrieWilliams, Judge Mablean, Dr. Jeffery Shears, and even spoke to former MLB All-Star, Gary

“All over this country, Black malesare looking at, following, and emulat-ing every move you make, becauseyou are a model of hard work andsuccess who encapsulates a patternand process they can follow to achievetheir own goals and success. Many of these same males have cometo know a world where the man re-sponsible for their existence (their fa-thers) did not contribute to their livesin the way they needed, desired, ordeserved.”

(continued on page 5)

LeBronJames

The WKND Focus/For The Brothers March 7, 2014 Page 5

Sheffield. All the people I thoughtwould help me tell this story of whyBlack men and boys harbor so muchpain and anger as a result of fatherabsence.

With your patience, allow me tellyou a few important things I learned:

1. Projecting anger out is what wemen often do when we aren’t shownhow to constructively release ouranger.

2. Anger and its negatives effectsare not mutually exclusive; it is cu-mulative and increases exponen-tially, as does its negative,destructive consequences. We arehurting the people we love and our-selves by not addressing our anger.

3. Healing and appropriately re-leasing our anger can be difficult,but it is not impossible.

But, here is the biggest lesson Ilearned: The more anger towards thepast we carry in our hearts, the lesscapable we are of loving in the pres-ent, so it is essential that fatherless

sons are supported in multiple waysto address our pain and anger appro-priately, and grow-up to be positiverole models for all children.

Like you, I have an awesomemother, children and believe in theWord of GOD. As such, we are obli-gated to teach our children andmodel for them righteous behaviorand morals, like forgiveness (whichdoesn’t necessarily mean establish-ing or entering back into a relation-ship that is one-sided or unsafe).

It means teaching them that theywill never be their best selves oroffer the world their best based onthe hatred of another, especially notour fathers.

I get it. Every now and then, I hadto tell the world I was ok and thatmy father was insignificant in mylife in order to suppress the fact thathis absence was extremely signifi-cant in my life.

I have a five-year-old son who isvery fortunate given the statistics.He has had the pleasure of living his

entire life with his married motherand father.

Something I’d often wish for my-self. Knowing what I know aboutmy own hatred for my dad, I couldnever say to him that my successwas fuel by my hatred for his grand-father.

I did, but can’t anymore. We mustalways teach our boys and girls froma position of love, not distain, dis-gust or devaluing of another. We

have all fallen short at one time oranother of our potential.

Too often for our Black boys; ourdisappointment has come at thehands of their fathers. But that does-n’t give us a blanket opportunity tohate based on information weDON’T have. You said it yourself, “Idon’t know him.”

I can only ask of you to under-stand and possibly talk to someonethat can share with you what for-

giveness can do for your own eleva-tion and continued success. Ourboys are watching.

Please make sure that the messageyou send to them isn’t one that startswith, “forget your father, look at me,I’m successful without him.” For-giveness gives the benefit of under-standing and closure.

Sincerely; Just a concerned BrotherKenneth Braswell

In Loving Memory

Quality Service...a tenured tradition

sincere concern at your time of need.

Offering pre-need, at need andafter-care services to families in

Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha andother communities

throughout our state.Services scheduled for March 3 to March 8, 2014

Duke, Orville V.Age 73 yrs. February 27, 2014. Funeral services will be held on Saturday11AM. Visitation Saturday 10AM until time of services at:Northwest Funeral ChapelO'Bee, Ford & Frazier6630 W. Hampton Ave. (414)462-6020

Harrell, Ella R.Age 93 yrs. February 19, 2014. Beloved mother of Samuel(Elnora)Harrell.Loving Grandmother of Curtis(Vanessa)Williamson, Darwin Williamson, Der-ron(Kim)Harrell and Curtis Buchanan. Great-grandmother of Maya Harrell,Derron Harrell Jr., Victoria Damato, Shakeya Williamson, Nicholas Harrell,Lennie Williamson, Maurice Williamson, Bryanna Buchanan, ArianaBuchanan and Trizzy Buchanan. Also survived by 7 great-great grandchildrenand a host of other loving relatives and friends. Funeral services will be heldon Friday 11AM. Visitation Friday 10AM until time of services at:Northwest Funeral ChapelO'Bee, Ford & Frazier6630 W. Hampton Ave. (414)462-6020

Triplett, Robert C.Age 57 yrs. February 21, 2014. Funeral services will beheld on Monday 1PM. Visitation Monday 12 Noon untiltime of services at:Northwest Funeral ChapelO'Bee, Ford & Frazier6630 W. Hampton Ave. (414)462-6020

Harrell, Ella R.Age 93 yrs. February 19, 2014. Beloved mother of Samuel(Elnora)Harrell.Loving Grandmother of Curtis(Vanessa)Williamson, Darwin Williamson, Der-ron(Kim)Harrell and Curtis Buchanan. Great-grandmother of Maya Harrell,Derron Harrell Jr., Victoria Damato, Shakeya Williamson, Nicholas Harrell,Lennie Williamson, Maurice Williamson, Bryanna Buchanan, ArianaBuchanan and Trizzy Buchanan. Also survived by 7 great-great grandchildrenand a host of other loving relatives and friends. Funeral services will be heldon Friday 11AM. Visitation Friday 10AM until time of services at:

Northwest Funeral ChapelO'Bee, Ford & Frazier6630 W. Hampton Ave. (414)462-6020

Woods, Teresa R.Age 98 yrs. March 2, 2014. Funeral services will be held on Friday 11AM atGreater Mount Zion Baptist Church 2479 N. Sherman Blvd.Visitation Friday 10AM at the CHURCH until time of services. The family isserved by:Northwest Funeral ChapelO'Bee, Ford & Frazier6630 W. Hampton Ave. (414)462-6020

Williamson, Mary LeeAge 95 yrs. February 25, 2014. Funeral services will be held on Monday11AM. Visitation Monday 10AM until time of services at:Northwest Funeral ChapelO'Bee, Ford & Frazier6630 W. Hampton Ave. (414)462-6020

Clinton, Jessie Sr.Age 82 yrs. March 1, 2014. Funeral services will be held on Saturday 1PM.Visitation Saturday 12 Noon until time of services at:Northwest Funeral ChapelO'Bee, Ford & Frazier6630 W. Hampton Ave. (414)462-6020

Kern, GradyAge 73 yrs. February 26, 2014. Funeral services will beheld on Friday 11AM. Visitation Friday 10AM until time ofservices at:Northwest Funeral ChapelO'Bee, Ford & Frazier6630 W. Hampton Ave. (414)462-6020

Milwaukee6630 W. Hampton Avenue

Milwaukee, WI 53218Telephone: (414) 462-6020

Fax: (414) 462-9937

Racine800 Barker St.

Racine, WI 53402Telephone: (262) 637-6400

Fax: (262) 637-6416

Families served by:Northwest Funeral Chapel O’Bee, Ford & Frazier

Open Letter toLeBron James(continued from page 4)

MichaelSam and‘The ManBox’By Dave Zirin

On Saturday, Missouri All-Ameri-can Michael Sam took to the podiumat the NFL combine to face a throngof reporters that gawked at him likehe had just made the journey from

Mars. Here he was: the man whowould become the NFL's first openlygay player.

The size of the media swarmshows, if nothing else, that the rightwing media which has refused tocover the Michael Sam story by say-ing explicitly, to take one headline,“We really don’t care that you’re gay,gay people,” is living in a reality oftheir own making.

Yes, people care. The Media thatmakes its money by generating pageviews is acutely aware that peoplecare.

People care because the NFL is theclosest thing we have in this countryto a national obsession. People care

because, beyond NFL fans, there is acollective recognition that this is his-tory being written before our eyes.People care because for all the gay

(continued on page 8)

Michael Sam

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The WKND Focus/For The Brothers March 7, 2014 Page 7

The WKND Focus/For The Brothers March 7, 2014 Page 8

players that have played in the NFL, Michael Sam is thefirst to "live his truth" openly.

As for Mr. Sam, based on the press conference, he seemsto be both savvy as hell and acutely aware that there is noneed to stoke the embers of this publicity inferno. It willrage regardless and the best thing he can do is make thebest possible impression on his profoundly risk-averse fu-ture employers in the NFL.

The sportswriters in attendance certainly swooned at hisevery word. Sam dolloped out a series of responses, whichsuggested less a new archetype of masculinity, than a re-calling of the old: Call it Dick Butkus spliced with SidneyPoitier alongside a dash of Gary Cooper.

Sam looked at the buzzing hive and said, "I just wishyou guys would see me as Michael Sam the footballplayer, not Michael Sam the gay football player."

When asked if he was a trailblazer, Sam said, "Do I feellike I'm a trailblazer? I feel like I'm Michael Sam."

For those who relish the prospect a hyper-macho NFLplayer holds to mortally damage the age-old trope thatequates being a gay male with being weak, Sam did notdisappoint.

When asked how he would handle an anti-gay slur, hesaid, "If someone calls me a name, I'll have a chat withthem. Hopefully it won't lead to anything further."

Sam even commented on the standing ovation he justreceived at a Mizzou basketball game by saying, "I wantedto cry, but I'm a man." Yup, a regular Gary Cooper.

As welcome as it always is to see stereotypes explode(and to imagine Rush Limbaugh’s head doing the same),there is a vexing aspect of Michael Sam’s square jawedcertitude.

Bomani Jones, one of the sharpest knives in the sportswriting box, somehow laid this out in 140 characters. Jonestweeted, "What Sam can do is separate sexual orientationfrom notions of masculinity. So what will we say when hereinforces gender norms as such?"

It's a question worth asking. So many players in theleague are caught in what former Baltimore Colt JoeEhrmann has called "the man box." This is the locker roomideology that preaches, “Bullies are heroes; pain—physi-cal or mental—is for wimps; and women are either ‘roadbeef’ or collateral damage.”

We just received a first hand look, thanks to Richie In-cognito and the Miami Dolphins, of what the “man box”looks like when the sportswriter’s romantic prose isstripped away—and it’s ugly as sin.

There are many pinning a set of extremely unrealistichopes onto Michael Sam: the hope that his mere presencewill crack open "the man box" and let some other emo-tional truths inside the locker room. Brandon Marshall ofthe Bears has taken it upon himself to actually try and dothis in Chicago.

He wants to make the Pro Bowl and redefine entrenchedleague concepts of masculinity at the same time. It's dif-ferent, it's courageous, and given his own—and theleague's—history with violence against women, it's braveas hell.

Michael Sam, for now at least, just wants to play foot-ball. To do so as an openly gay man is, in 2014, a radicalact.

That also may be the only mountain we can—andshould—ask this young man to climb. As Michael Samsays, he just wants to play football.

Dave Zirin is the author of Bad Sports: How OwnersAre Ruining the Games We Love (Scribners) and co-au-thor (with John Carlos) of The John Carlos Story: TheSports Moment That Changed the World (HaymarketBooks).

Michael Sam and‘The Man Box’(continued from page 5)

FTBSports

Milwaukee Bucks Guard Ramon Sessions (number 13) is guarded bya Utah Jazz player who probably looked familiar to a few fans--espe-cially those who went to Milwaukee Vincent High School. Diante Gar-rett (number eight) is a Milwaukee native who plays Guard for theJazz. He was playing in Milwaukee as a professional basketball playerfor the first time. Among the fans watching the game was Diante’s fa-ther, Dick Garrett, who himself was an NBA player from 1969 to 1974.The eldeer Garrett is a retired MillerCoors sales representative whoworks as an usher at Bucks home games. He took the night off towatch and root for his son, whose team lost to the Bucks, 114-88. (Photo by Bill Tennessen)