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| Al Sharpton Phot |
This post has been updated and corrected. Earlier version misidentified Rev. Brisco's position at his church.
A budding movement for jobs in Milwaukee will get a boost Sunday from the Rev. Al Sharpton. The civil rights leader will arrive in town and is slated to speak at 9:30 a.m. at the New Covenant Missionary Baptist Church, 2315 N. 38th St., and at 11:45 a.m. at Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church, 1825 W Hampton Ave.
Protest over Gov. Scott Walker’s derailment of high-speed rail is morphing into a movement demanding jobs. In scotching the federally financed, $810 million rail line between Milwaukee and Madison, Walker wiped out the thousands of jobs experts say the project would have spurred.
Walker had complained that the state would have been saddled with yearly operating costs, as much as $7.5 million, even though the project should have generated enough added state revenue - by boosting personal income and sales of merchandise and thus income and sales taxes - to cover those costs.
The governor also prompted train maker Talgo to announce it would take its manufacturing operation out of Milwaukee. Occupying a refurbished manufacturing plant on the north side, an area of super-high unemployment, Talgo had stood as a symbol of hope.
MICAH (Milwaukee Innercity Congregations Allied for Hope) had designated Sunday Emergency Jobs Sunday and has called on member churches to talk about the city’s job crisis. The Rev. Willie Brisco, associate minister at New Covenant, heads MICAH.
Rev. F. L. Crouther is pastor of New Covenant, and Rev. Russell Williamson is pastor of Zion Hill.
Rev. F. L. Crouther is pastor of New Covenant, and Rev. Russell Williamson is pastor of Zion Hill.
MICAH is a member of a coalition organizing the jobs movement. Other members are: Amalgamated Transit Union, Milwaukee Area Labor Council, Voces de la Frontera, League of Young Voters and Wisconsin Citizen Action.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI would urge MICAH leaders to convene a meeting and invite the leaders of Jumpstart, an innovative incubator in Ohio, to discuss options to help spur job growth in Milwaukee.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.jumpstartinc.org/
The alternative option of complaining about the governor's decision amounts to energy that needs to be channeled. I suggest channeling it toward a solution that doesn't depend upon a governor whose priorities are different than the people who elected him.
STANFORD REPLIES
ReplyDeleteTamara R.:
Thanks for trying to correct me. I did make the correction just before I got your message - doubtless the reason you removed the message. But I just want to let you and all readers know that, while I strive for perfection, I want you to alert me to errors.
Mike Green:
Thanks for your comment. My guess is that, rather than running programs, MICAH sees its mission as getting government and other institutions to act in a just manner. But I can't, of course, speak for MICAH or other members of the coalition inviting Sharpton to town. So I hereby invite members of that coalition to respond in this space to your comment.