- Final Call - Black Institutions Under Assault By Our Enemies
- Chicago Sun-Times: Louis Farrakhan Joins Fight Over The Harold Washington Cultural Center
- The Chicagoist: The Harold Washington Cultural Center: The Hat vs The Mayor
I readily admit to be conducting a longitudinal research project on the forces that bear the greatest amount of influence upon the Black Community and the "ideologically primitive assumptions" from which the prevailing consciousness flows from.
In as much as so much of the "struggle motion" comes us short of the anticipated results at the front end the "constructive feedback" that I provide regarding how a greater amount of efficacy might be obtained may not as be "destructive critical" as some of you might assume.
In fact some of the methodologies that you are inclined to buy into as part of your "struggle motion" might indeed be the problem which lead to the outcomes.
The Struggle Over The Harold Washington Cultural Center's Mortgage & Foreclosure Proceedings
I heard about the conflict over the "Harold Washington Cultural Center" a while back but put a bookmark on it until the situation came closer to a solution (or boiling point).
In a brief synopsis:
- Former Chicago Alderman Dorthy Tillman initiated an idea for the "Harold Washington Center" as the centerpiece of the community revitalization and cultural arts expression within the Bronzeville area of Chicago
- Ms Tillman garnered support for the building by using her contacts in the Chicago community. The group was able to obtain approximately $19.5 million in financing to construct a state of the art building
- The financing as provided by ShoreBank required that the facility host a certain number of paid performances per year in order to establish the necessary cash flow for the management group "Tobacco Road" to pay the mortgage
- When construction was completed the building served as a center of pride for the community. The 1000 seat theater within the building.
- The advanced audio/visual system within the facility
- The luxurious accommodations
- The cultural performances
- The "community center for children from the community" - all combined showed the community what was possible with collaboration and support for the facility
- The facility opened in 2004.
- It fell short of its target for paid patrons to support the financial commitments.
- ShoreBank foreclosed on the facility in 2009
- Tobacco Road, Dorthy Tillman and other forces within the Black Racial Services Machine of Chicago went on the offensive against ShoreBank - accusing it of dirty dealing in their attempts to work with the management company
- The City Of Chicago stepped in, showing interest in taking over the facility and handing it over to "City Colleges Of Chicago"
- ShoreBank went insolvent and was taken over by the FDIC
- The Nation Of Islam lent their support to Tobacco Road.
- In looking at the bank payment schedule they noted that some of the premiums paid were paid toward INTEREST rather than INTEREST AND PRINCIPAL - thus they allege that the bank committed fraud in dealing with the financial interests of Tobacco Road and the Black community
(Note - this is MY summary) after reading the news from various sources. Any errors by ME are not substantive to the actual situation in Chicago - in a facility that I have never set foot in.
"Justice Thurgood Marshal Justice" meets "Maxine Waters Social Justice Financing"
The labels above are justified.
Instead of noting that the franchise is not viable - unable to live up to the financial commitments that it contracted to originally with ShoreBank -Tobacco Road and its surrogates have chosen to "Put the Bank on Trial" producing evidence of misallocated payments while avoiding the question of the facilities solvency (Justice Thurgood Marshall Justice in which THE SYSTEM is put on trial in order to turn the defendant into a VICTIM).
I was originally moved by the utility of the facility. A base station where young people can congregate together to expand their artistic expression and receive as much as they are sitting in the 1,000 seat theater. Upon hearing about this facility I was made to think about the 'Martin Luther King Jr Chapel ' on the campus of Morehouse College. As a transplant to Atlanta I frequently attended similar cultural events there.
The article in The Final Call makes reference to the fact that ShoreBank was bound to the "Community Reinvestment Act". I took this statement to mean that there is some type of handicapped that must be assumed with the Black Community. The fact that our community are "Stage Performing While Black" should cause bank to "put people over profits" and not strictly enforce the contractual agreements made with Tobacco Road - if their shortfall means that the facility would be closed and unavailable to "poor Black kids".
The bank is asked to "Put People Over Profits".
The bottom line remains - without the agreement to pay the mortgage AND the business model which promised a certain amount of paid foot traffic - the facility would never have been built. The issue is NOT "Why allow a finished facility to go unused as it is in foreclosure". The real issue is "WHY did the interest group that pushed for the center build such an elaborate facility that they could ill-afford despite their fantastical estimates on income?
Those who brag about the 'state of the art audio/visual system', likely installed under the mentality of "nothing but the best" bear some accountability for the situation.
If the $19.5 million center is in foreclosure - might a $11.5 million facility be current on its commitment to the financiers?
There is no doubt that Donald Trump has many properties that were built using certain revenue commitments that did not come through and he later filed BANKRUPTCY and negotiated with the bank to retain the name of the building but lost management control. The key distinction between Trump and Tillman is that Trump did not cry RACISM(!!!!) when the bank moved in on the various properties that were under water.
Absent a force that pushed back against the "eyes wider than the stomach" viewpoint of those who erected the grand hall - what other financial institution would dare to engage with the same civic operatives in the future when the "Barack Obama Hope & Change Center" is constructed in the future when they are likely to be called RACISTS as they follow up upon a broken financial contract?
Where is the INSTITUTIONAL TEMPERANCE that serves as a check upon the egos of some of these "Black Racial Services Machine" operatives?
The struggle over the "Harold Washington Cultural Center" is not only modern day evidence of the "enemies of Black people" attempting to snatch away our INSTITUTIONS...............................it is also evidence of the undisciplined antics used by those who claim to represent the best interests of the Black Community and when called on their tendencies are quick to cry RACISM(!!!) as a negotiating tactic.
The bank is asked to "Put People Over Profits".
The bottom line remains - without the agreement to pay the mortgage AND the business model which promised a certain amount of paid foot traffic - the facility would never have been built. The issue is NOT "Why allow a finished facility to go unused as it is in foreclosure". The real issue is "WHY did the interest group that pushed for the center build such an elaborate facility that they could ill-afford despite their fantastical estimates on income?
Those who brag about the 'state of the art audio/visual system', likely installed under the mentality of "nothing but the best" bear some accountability for the situation.
If the $19.5 million center is in foreclosure - might a $11.5 million facility be current on its commitment to the financiers?
There is no doubt that Donald Trump has many properties that were built using certain revenue commitments that did not come through and he later filed BANKRUPTCY and negotiated with the bank to retain the name of the building but lost management control. The key distinction between Trump and Tillman is that Trump did not cry RACISM(!!!!) when the bank moved in on the various properties that were under water.
Absent a force that pushed back against the "eyes wider than the stomach" viewpoint of those who erected the grand hall - what other financial institution would dare to engage with the same civic operatives in the future when the "Barack Obama Hope & Change Center" is constructed in the future when they are likely to be called RACISTS as they follow up upon a broken financial contract?
Where is the INSTITUTIONAL TEMPERANCE that serves as a check upon the egos of some of these "Black Racial Services Machine" operatives?
The struggle over the "Harold Washington Cultural Center" is not only modern day evidence of the "enemies of Black people" attempting to snatch away our INSTITUTIONS...............................it is also evidence of the undisciplined antics used by those who claim to represent the best interests of the Black Community and when called on their tendencies are quick to cry RACISM(!!!) as a negotiating tactic.
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