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Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven…
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
The countdown to the IABPFF 40th Anniversary has begun. On behalf of our members and at the pleasure of your Executive Board, I want to thank you all for your gracious support. As the opening draws near our 20th biennial Constitutional Convention and Training conference, it cannot be successful without your energy, prayers, good thoughts and resources. Permit me to congratulate you in advance for your contribution. Our preparation for this highly anticipated business gathering and family reunion continues to keep us striving for perfection. Realizing we all fall short, this time has also made us seriously consider more the importance of counting our blessings.
Ten months ago, we decided to engage in public dialogue with other National Fire Service Leadership regarding diversity and our unique contribution to the profession. The Equity/Diversity Conference; the IAFF Human Relations Conference; and the Panel Discussion at FDIC have all led up to our “Town Hall” discourse slated for Friday afternoon. Scheduled to attend is IAFF General President Harold Shaitsburger, I-Women President Cheryl Horvath, and representatives from the NAHF and IAFC.
Nine months ago we gathered in Atlanta for Executive Council and the Tri-regional Meeting. Monday and Tuesday will give us an opportunity to continue some of the action items and bring closure to others. The Recruitment Committee has developed a strategy in booklet form. They have also invited Dr. Carl Holmes to present an updated version of the “Overview Concept”, entitled “How to Think Outside the Lines”. I am sure this will be informative, thought provoking, and help us with our recruitment mandate.
Eight are the number of Presidents and their administrations that have been elected since our inception. David J. Floyd, Charles Hendricks, Clarence Williams, Romeo Spauding, Oshiyemi Adelabu, Ted Holmes, and Johnny J. Brewington, their Executive Boards and the sacrifice of their families, have all made indelible contributions to our quest (Of course the jury is still out on me). Let’s continue to celebrate their highlights and learn from the lesser heights!
Seven are the number of regions that continue to serve our communities without and organize our association within. Take the best of your regional meetings and infuse it into the convention. I commend our Regional Directors and your Executive Boards for moving us into the future as a viable and progressive movement.
Six days ago, the politically conscious began to discuss the NAACP resolution against the racist element of the Tea Party. There is also dialogue sweeping across the country of the economic angst, the unemployment rise, and the assessment of President Obama’s other views. Not to mention our relationship to politics, or the lack there of. That is why we are honored to have as keynote speaker for our banquet, renowned political analyst, Donna Brazile.
Five months ago, the IABPFF Executive Board and other members met and attended the BCOC Symposium in Florida. Tweaking the directives from Executive Council, preparing for the convention, and learning personal/professional development were all a part of the strategic planning initiative.
Four decades ago, brave men (with the support of their women) decided the need to organize. By God’s grace the first decade started with five local chapters, and grew to over forty. The second decade focused on concepts, court consent decrees, etc. The third decade produced EDI, BWFS, ITC, and the Caribbean Region, just to name a few. The last decade, trials and tribulations were put before us to see if we really believed what we say we believe. In every lesson, there is a blessing.
Three months ago, the BP Oil Spill was/is a sign of wasted energy. In those same three months we have all been tried in our personal lives in one degree or another. Rescue me if I am wrong. We are more valuable than oil. It would be a high crime and misdemeanor to waste our energy while trying to get our agenda accomplished. What would our brothers and sisters who are attending from the United Kingdom think? The spill is also an additional trial for the people of the Gulf region, of which most of us can’t imagine. Let’s also come to New Orleans with a mindset to help their community, no matter how small the donation.
Two makes me reflect on two of our members who recently had successful surgery. It helped everyone to see just how fragile life is. We know as first responders, but sometimes we forget when it pertains to us. Prayer, meditation, positive vibes, fitness, and nutrition remain the SOG/SOP of the day. If we woke up with a reasonable portion of health and some semblance of sanity, never forget to give thanks and praise!
One represents you. Organizationally, you are number one to me! You are the reason the IABPFF exists. You are the reason I communicate as I have, are currently doing, and will continue to do, Lord willing. You are the wind beneath my wings, on whose shoulders I stand, and in a good way, the thorns in my side. It is because of you, I have been allowed to serve you as your President. You will make the convention a success or not. You are the member who appreciates my relationship to the Creator, respects my nuclear and extended family, and for that, I am and will always be eternally grateful.
As we blast off toward the South Central Region, kudos to BANOFF, NOFD Superintendent Parent, Executive Director Jeff Harris, the Convention Committee, and all those who have help to make the convention God’s will. I just gave ten reasons why it is already a highly favored event and why the source of our supply is fond of you. I am sure you can think of ten additional reasons. I look forward to seeing you for fun with good music; fellowship with good food; and faith with good intentions. Peace.
Your servant and friend,
Joseph B. Muhammad
Joseph B. Muhammad, IABPFF President
Monday, June 21, 2010
Two days ago, one month to go!
“Our nation is stronger because of the generations of struggles for equal rights and social justice, and our culture is richer because of the contributions of African Americans throughout history. This is why Juneteenth, while rooted in the history of a people, can be celebrated by all Americans.” – President Barack Obama
Juneteenth is an African American celebration marking the freeing of enslaved Africans in Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865. Although President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862, news of the end of slavery didn’t reach frontier areas, particularly in the Southwest, for another two and a half years.
What does Juneteenth have to do with you, us, and the IABPFF “in times like these”? Were it not for the IABPFF ancestors and elders who struggled for equal rights and social justice, what would America’s Fire service profession look like today? We could never thank them enough for their service and sacrifice. Their courage enabled us to enter into the ranks; giving us the opportunity for upward mobility and providing for our families. If we have not gotten the news already, the year 2020 will look like the year 1920. Juneteenth was about emancipation, and today it’s about timely information so as to not fall prey again to captivation. Not to intensify our recruiting efforts in bringing younger blacks into the fold while nurturing them accordingly will only increase our challenges. There has been, and continues to be political campaign and a “merits based standard” call to arms crusade that is rapidly attempting to turn back the clock. How will our generation be found historically regarding organization, mobilization, and socialization? We must be willing to address this issue and strategize in New Orleans as we also celebrate 40 years of our existence! At the Dr. Carl Holmes Executive Development Institute this year, I was given three books. The one applicable to the above is, “The truth about America”, by Ernest M. Fountain.
Providing, nurturing, and sustaining is also the root of yesterday’s holiday, affectionately known as “Father’s Day”. While I was humbled by my well wishers, I again have to acknowledge the men in my life for setting examples for me. I also salute the women who have substituted for missing fathers. Counting down this past weekend, and looking toward our gathering in August, I could not help to think of our joint black male youth initiative with Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. This partnership is indicative of the African Proverb, “It takes a whole village to raise a child.” Whether we collectively or individually are engaged in similar projects, such as Michael Baisden’s “One Million Mentors Tour” or Susan Taylor’s “Mentoring Cares Movement”, there is no time to waste so “Bring you’re ‘A’ Game.”
Showing our youth different approaches to learning by profession related workshops, field trips, internships, interviews, health and fitness, networking, participation in government, reading, and research can only be a win-win situation. Let’s be dedicated to raising the level of consciousness of our recruitment pool. We must continue to be examples for the next generation as a task force committed to community service, human ingenuity, and willing to be evaluated for improvement. The book I purchased at EDI relative to this action item is, “Saving the Race- Daily Affirmations for Young Black Males”, by Anthony Samad.
It is one month to go before our 20th biennial convention entitled, “Choice, not Chance, Determines Destiny”. I hope by now you have made the choice to attend by pre-registering, reserving your room, submitting an ad in the commemorative journal, and/or nominating a member for an award. The third book I offer is “PROJECT SUCCESS: The Right Thing for the Right Reason”, by the 100 Black Men of Atlanta. This should be the subtitle for our convention. To attend with success in mind is the right thing for the right reason. To attend with love in mind is the project. You’ve got to love it by choice and not chance. We have got to love each other, after loving ourselves first. Love is a verb meaning it is an action item; the right thing for the right reason.
The members of the IABPFF, BCOC, BWFS, and EDI all say we believe in the courage and insight of our ancestors; the need to recruit and retain the next generation; and the importance of working together to organizationally attain a better future. Looking ahead, I am eagerly awaiting to see you so we can take what we believe to the next level. Remember, God will put trials and tribulations before us to see if we truly believe in what we profess. Our organization is rooted in the history of a people…
Congrats to the recent member promotions and retirees. I salute the recent births, weddings, graduations. The sick, shut-in, and injured remain in my prayers. Rest in peace to our dearly departed, knowing weeping may endure for the night, but it is joy that comes in the morning. On your behalf and at the pleasure of your Executive Board, I continue to be blessed my your allowing me to serve. All that I am, I owe. I live eternally in the red, and that can be celebrated by all Americans. Peace.
Keep the Fire Burning for Justice,
Joseph B. Muhammad, IABPFF President
Captain Carl Alexander
We thank and honor the SCBFFA for their generous donation to the African American Fire Fighter Museum.
Haiti Earthquake Disaster 2010
How you can help
· The Haiti Earthquake Task Force has set up the following number for Americans seeking information about American citizens in Haiti: 1-888-407-4747. Some callers may receive a recording because of the heavy volume of calls.
· The Embassy is working to identify U.S. citizens in Haiti who need urgent assistance and to identify sources of emergency help. U.S. citizens IN Haiti have been urged to contact the Embassy via email at ACSPaP@state.gov to request assistance. U.S. citizens in Haiti have been asked to call the Embassy’s Consular Task Force at 509-2229-8942, 509-2229-8089, 509-2229-8322, or 509-2229-8672.
· The Department of State is receiving a high volume of calls concerning the welfare of American citizens in Haiti. To better handle these requests, the Department has established an e-mail address for people who are trying to contact their American Citizen friends and relatives in Haiti. It is: Haiti-Earthquake@State.Gov
· State Department worked with The mGive Foundation, Mobile Accord, CTIA (CTIA-The Wireless Association) and The American Red Cross to set up the keyword "Haiti", and the short code number "90999" to turn on mobile giving and help channel $10 donations directly to the Red Cross with 100% pass through. 100% of contributions are being passed through to aid relief efforts in Haiti. As of this evening, this effort has raised over $1.3 million.
· At this current time the Administration is urging Cash donation. Please visit www.whitehouse.gov and www.USAID.gov for more information.
· Floridians and neighbors across the country can contribute to “Neighbors to the Rescue” by going to www.FLADisasterRecoveryFund.org – or by calling 1-800-825-3786.
· You can text “HAITI” to the number 90999 ($10 will be charged to your cell phone bill and donated to the Red Cross and Mercy Corps towards relief efforts Haiti).
· You can direct constituents looking to donate time or supplies to the Center for International Disaster Information (CIDI) at 703-276-1914, or online at http://www.cidi.org/incident/haiti-10a/.
· If your constituents are still looking for family members, you can direct them to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) website, www.icrc.org/familylinks.
John
Deleon Photographer
On behalf of the Stentorians of Los Angeles
County, we are proud to announce that our former President and current AAFF
Museum Board of director member, Daryl Osby has been promoted to the
position of Chief Deputy.
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"IABPFF Smoke"
Remember the men & women of Engine Company X!
ENGINE COMPANY X:
THE NEW
STENTORIANS http://www.tmg5artists.com/orderecx.htm ed Fathers For Life Cable TV Show
The History of Black Firefighters Featuring, “The Stentorians” Unifiedfathersforlife@yahoo.com
STENTORIANS PARTNER WITH BERNARD HEINZ AND THE WORLD BURN FOUNDATION, TO SUPPORT EDUCATIONAL EFFORTS TO REACH Preschool-aged Children, The Most Vulnerable to Death or Serious Injury Due to Fire
WORLD
BURN FOUNDATION LAUNCHES SESAME STREET FIRE SAFETY STATION CAMPAIGN IN MORE
THAN 2,600 LOS ANGELES COUNTY PRESCHOOLS AND DAY CARE CENTERS
Sing-Along and Color-and-Learn Fire Safety and Burn Prevention Messages to Fire BEVERLY HILLS, CA -- The World Burn Foundation, an international nonprofit organization dedicated to serving the needs of burn survivors and their families, announced yesterday that it is distributing copies of the Sesame Street Fire Safety Station education program to 2,687 state-registered preschools and child day care centers in Los Angeles County. In addition, the World Burn Foundation will provide over 161,000 families with a copy of the Color and Learn book, instructions on how to supplement their children's learning at home and an information sheet on scalding prevention and burn care....more "Extra" |
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The Stentorians in action |
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Lending our support in and around our "Community" |
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For African American Fire Fighter Museum
Los Angeles Men of Fire Calendar 2009
Los Angeles Men of Fire Calendar Signing (click to view)
Los Angeles
Cares Mentoring Movement
Susan Taylor, noted editor of Essence Magazine, recently retired from her post where she served for many years, to launch the Essence Cares movement. The goal is to register one million people to become mentors throughout the United States to show an interest in helping our young African Americans.
The Cares movement was partnered with Mr. Tommy Dortch, the chairman emeritus of the 100 Black Men of America. The first retreat of the Cares movement was held in Anaheim California. Many of the Cares Circle leaders attended this three day seminar/retreat and shared an exchange of ideas, views and visions on best practices to recruit mentors and solicit sponsorships from partnering organizations and funders. The retreat was very successful and served as an excellent start for the movement.
Brent Burton of the Stentorians of Los Angeles County, serves as the co-chair of the L.A. Cares Circle and also as the co-chair of the 100 Black Men of Los Angeles’ mentoring committee. Burton plans to discuss bringing this movement to the I.A.B.P.F.F. to join as a supporting partner.
Mr. Blair Hamilton Taylor
A Special Message from the CEO of the Los Angeles Urban League
If there's one thing we have all come
to know about difficult times, it's that there is always someone who has more
challenges than you - someone who desperately needs your help.
The Los Angeles Urban League is tackling the major issues faced by the most challenged populations in our city - including unemployment, crime, health disparities, educational reform, access to higher education and housing foreclosures - head on.
However, the problem is that in these troubled times, just when the needs are greatest, the resources that enable us to do this important work are ever more difficult to come by. So, even if you never have done so before, I want to ask you to consider supporting us now, in these vital endeavors, at this critical time.
Allow me to take just a moment to tell you a few quick but important stories.
There's a young woman named Ashley from South Los Angeles and her story is simply amazing: Last year, she was a senior at Dorsey High School in South LA. She grew up in the foster care system of Los Angeles. In fact, she was shifted and shuffled to more than a dozen different foster care group homes before she was 17 years old. Yet through all of this, Ashley made the grades, became President of her senior class, and graduated from Dorsey. And now Ashley is a freshman at UCLA, in part because she was the recipient of the Los Angeles Urban League-Nestle "Outstanding Youth Award" in 2008, and as a result, she received a $10,000 scholarship.
Notably, she's also the beneficiary of the Urban League's advocacy efforts - since the Los Angeles Urban League united with other civil rights organizations over the past several years to nearly triple the number of African American enrollees at UCLA from 1996-98 (in 1996, African American enrollment had fallen to below 100 African American students for the first time ever).
Then there's Jonathan, who is currently a freshman at Crenshaw High this year. Jonathan and 15 of his peers were recently selected to be a part of the Los Angeles Urban League's "Leadership Institute" - an 8 week curriculum taught to young men by the LA Urban League. Many of the young men hail from households where there is no male figure at all. But this model program - which brings in some of the most powerful men in the city (as guest speakers), is intentionally designed to provide insight and perspective about key qualities of leadership to young men who will be integral to the future success of our city and nation.
Jonathan and his peers are part of this exciting program only because since 2008, the Los Angeles Urban League has taken a proactive role in the reform of Crenshaw High School - which had been one of LA's 15 worst-performing schools.
The League has become one of the 3 Network Partners integrally involved in the school's complete redesign. And according to the accreditation team that recently visited the school, Crenshaw simply "isn't the same school" that it was only one short year ago. The school is on its way back to greatness, and students like Jonathan, and our entire community, will be the ultimate beneficiaries.
There's also Shaneikah. She too attends Crenshaw High. However, because Shaneikah is handicapped, she struggled desperately to get around the large Crenshaw campus in her dilapidated old wheelchair. But as a direct result of the efforts of the League's nationally acclaimed, replicable neighborhood revitalization strategy, called Neighborhoods@Work, an angel investor was located for Shaneikah and her family. Among other gifts she received, Shaneikah now attends her classes at Crenshaw in a brand new, fully electronic wheelchair.
Shaneikah is looking to go on to college soon. The myriad powerful reforms underway at Crenshaw High and the surrounding community - programs designed to support her and thousands of others, are now helping Shaneikah to further tap her own tireless ambition. She is well on her way.
And finally, there's Kim. He came into one of our Work Source Center locations in October 2008. He was diligently seeking assistance locating a job, since he had been unemployed for many months. He completed two Job Preparation Workshops at our West Adams Work Source Center that fully prepared him for employment. As a direct result, the League was able to help him secure a permanent full time position at Aircraft Services International Group (ASIG), that enables Kim to once again provide for his family. Kim found that the Urban League's 30+ years of experience with hundreds of job providers and thousands of job seekers literally unlocked the door to his future.
Access to jobs. Educational reform. Entrepreneurship and business development. Youth mentorship and assistance. Scholarships. Community safety. Replicable neighborhood revitalization models, Preschool and after school programs for thousands of urban youth. Now more than ever, your Los Angeles Urban League is hard at work. In aggregate, our efforts will serve more than 100,000 of LA's most distressed residents this year.
Won't you please help support the invaluable work of the Los Angeles Urban League today?
Our efforts are truly making our community better – everyday. But we need your help. You can join online electronically by visiting our website www.laul.org. Your gracious support will help us to continue in our efforts to transform urban Los Angeles, one neighborhood at a time.
You have my heartfelt thanks in advance for your support.
Blair Hamilton Taylor President and CEO Los Angeles Urban League Website: www.laul.org
The
Urban Media Foundation (“Foundation”) is seeking community partners for
networking youth services and to pass on information about our FREE
Media Workshops. We provide after-school programs for disadvantaged
youth ages 14 to 17 years. The workshops focus on literacy, journalism
and professional development for at-risk kids. We also network to
provide youth job opportunities and internships. Our participants are at
a volatile stage in the maturation process. Our results driven programs
creates role models and future leaders. We prepare young people for
success by addressing barriers that contribute to loss of earning power
and limit employability. Our success depends upon establishing
relationships with those who have a desire to help youth in local
communities. We look forward to partnering with you! All Files in Adobe® Portable Document Format. PDF is the open de facto standard for electronic document distribution worldwide. Adobe PDF is a universal file format that preserves all the fonts, formatting, graphics, and color of any source document, regardless of the application and platform used to create it. Adobe PDF files are compact and can be shared, viewed, navigated, and printed exactly as intended by anyone with free Adobe Acrobat® Reader® software.
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