Chapter Four: Steppin’ Out
Freedom, Inc.
is a political organization in Kansas
City that sprung up from the grassroots and has had a
tremendous impact on the Greater Kansas City Metropolitan Area. I have often stated the Freedom Inc. should
be studied. One telling observation is
that it was founded by independent Black business people: Leon Jordan, board
chairman, owned a bar; Bruce Watkins, president, was head of his family owned
funeral home; Howard Maupin, treasurer, owned a barbershop; Fred Curls owned a
real estate agency; Leonard Hughes, who named the organization, had a law firm;
Harold Holliday, Sr., who later became the board chairman, after the assassination
of Leon Jordan, also owned a law firm; Rosemary Lowe was a beautician. That put them in a position to operate in
what they perceived to be the community’s best interest without fear of
retribution with regard to their livelihood.
A generation later, after the
founding of Freedom Inc., the W.E.B.
DuBois Learning
Center was founded. And somewhat similarly, it too was founded by
individuals who were either independently employed or who were professionals
earning a salary comfortably above subsistence pay. Likewise, we too were able to engage in our
“community/activist” activity without having to consider constricting strings
being attached. It was pointed out in
the earlier chapters just how Freedom Inc, played a significant role in us
being in the position to accomplish many of the things we are able to do
today. Being able to provide a technological
infrastructure of the “Urban Campus” was one of them.
However, with growth there come
situations that cry out to be dealt with.
The load demands placed on the network required us to update our
hardware and software. We were able to
get some help from area corporations, in particular GE and Microsoft, in that
regard. But the computer uses of the
summer program put a lot of demands on our staff to support their activities as
well. At first we only had one person, Elton Gumbel, to handle that support. But the demands on him were getting to be too
great. Fortunately for us, the Kauffman
Foundation made resources available for us to get Elton some help. Fortunately for us also, was the fact the
Kelvin C. “KC” Simmons had taken the courses in Cisco certification offered by
the Center and was available to come and work with us.
KC had been attending a class
offered by the Association for the Study of Classical African Civilization
(ASCAC) that was held in the Learning
Center. While there, Bill Grace had been talking to
him about the Telehub Network and it had sparked his interest. When he found out about the classes offered
in Cisco, he asked if he could sign up.
As they say, the rest is history. For KC showed great interest and
promise in mastering the subject matter and when the other network support
position opened up, it was offered to him.
He accepted it even though it was part-time. However, there is no doubt in my mind that
the rate at which we were growing, it wouldn’t be too long before it got
upgraded to full time.
In the meantime, some other
significant things were happening in the rest of the Learning Center. Tracé Warren had enrolled her two sons in the
Center’s math, reading and science programs.
During the orientation she became aware of our need for more volunteers
in our administration staff and offered to help. When Von Elston and Terri Moore found out
that she was a vice principal at De LaSalle High School here in Kansas City, they
immediately sought out her knowledge and expertise. When Ron Bowers offered to help us develop
our data bases, Terri and Tracy were the main ones to participate in that
effort. When all of this is taken into
consideration it seems as though Harrison’s
Hypothesis was operating for us in more that just financial concerns. A synthesizing and cross-fertilizing within
the Learning Center was taking place that
foreshadowed exciting things to come.
As the Telehub
Network began to come together, several things began to happen. Among them, as stated before, were inquiries
that we were getting more and more of about participation. Another was both
inquiries and observations as to the various ways it could be used. All of these things generated an impetus for
us to reach out and expand our horizons.
• • •
“Steppin’ Out” is the opening song on the Steel Pulse
album, “Earth Crisis.” Ronald “Stepper”
McQueen, the bass player, lays down rhythmic, pulsating lines throughout the
tune. Its opening lines exude
self-confidence:
Steppin’ out
(Repeated four
times.)
Open says a me,
Here comes Rasta
man.
Abracadabra,
Catch me if you
can.
Notice that he does not say “sesame,” the word used
(symbolic of how the sesame seed bud opens up) in the Tales of the Arabian
Knights story that permits whoever says “Open sesame” entry into a secret
cavern. He says, “Open SAYS A ME,” in
other words, because HE says so, as if to imply that the wants “out” of a
situation that he’s contained “in,” or that he just refuses to be held back.
He’s a self-confident RASTA man
who knows himself (as DuBois alludes to in the quote in the “Prelude”) that’s
declaring he is “stepping out.” Then defiantly says “Abracadabra” (a word used
by magicians before a magic feat), “Catch me if you can.”
So it is with the DLC’s Telehub
visionaries. They too are self confident
as to what can be achieved with their understanding of the wonders of
telecommunications technology, and how it can be used to benefit our community.
They have insight into what may seem like magic to others, as they confidently
go about implementing their vision.
• • •
In the very process of becoming a
part of the DLC’s Telehub Network one begins to acquire an understanding of
what the Learning
Center is all about,
especially for those not fully aware of what we do. One such case was when the Non-Denominational
Greater Corinthian Church of Christ became a participant. When their representatives became aware that
we tutored kids, and had an established track record in doing so, they
expressed a desire to have a tutoring program in their church as well. So we, in keeping with our desire to help
uplift our community, worked with them to help them establish their reading
program.
However, where we
really began “steppin’ out” was when we were able to establish a satellite
in Detroit, Michigan.
One of the things I had been doing as the technology coordinator for
NBUF was keeping them abreast of what was happening at the DLC with our Telehub
Network. Although they would all
politely listen to me, I could tell that many of them at that time did not
really understand everything I was talking about. When an NBUF central committee meeting was to
be held in Kansas City
in 2002, I saw an opportunity too good to pass up. I knew that members of our Detroit chapter were involved with
institutions that worked with youth and, significantly, had their own
buildings. So I called them and
suggested that they bring some technical people to the CC meeting, whether they
were actually members of NBUF or not. Fred Reeder and Marvis Cofield of Alkebulan Village
were some of those who came.
I made a presentation at the meeting, but it
was in the social gathering after the official meetings were over that some
serious dialogue about the Telehub Network took place. After some discussion on how the Telehub was
working here in Kansas City,
the talks turned to how to bring Alkebulan (ancient Egyptian for “land of the
Blacks”) Village on board. I went on to
explain that just as we were spreading the Telehub throughout Kansas
City, that they could do the same thing in Detroit.
It turned out that Fred had checked
out our computer labs during the lunch break of the CC. There he just happened to meet and started
talking with George Walker about Alkebulan Village getting hooked up with us. When George found out that their computer lab
had a DSL connection, he told Fred that all they needed to be up and running
was a Virtual Private Network (VPN) box.
To be honest about it, at that time I didn’t even know what a VPN box
was, and I’m sure that Fred didn’t either.
But there was George running it down.
Fred and his Detroit
delegation expressed the desire to not only become a part of the Network but to
be the venue through which it spreads throughout Detroit.
Now it was just a matter of getting the ball rolling. The process of getting them hooked up,
however, became a trying experience.
After we obtained a VPN box, got it
configured, and sent it to them, we discovered that they did not have anyone
available to them in Detroit
who could finish hooking it up to their system.
Fred offered to pay someone to hook it up for them. I then asked him, “How much would it
cost?” I told him, “If it cost more than
a plane ticket, we could send one of our guys up there.” Between Alkebulan
Village and the Learning Center,
we were able to make arrangements for George Walker
and Jay Williams to go up there and get the job done. The feature that attracted them the most was
the ability to access software that enabled them to test and track their
student’s reading levels. And now, as a
result of their success, we could entertain the concept of going national!
Since then we have held discussions
with interested parties in several other cities. However, the city that took us up on getting
involved was Chicago. Toriano Granger is the national secretary for
NBUF and he is also a mechanical engineer.
He took up the challenge to spearhead the task of getting NBUF’s
national headquarters hooked up to the Telehub Network. He was fortunate to have Vincent Johnson, an
NBUF member in Chicago
who works in IT to help him in the process.
In the process of developing something like the Telehub Network, there are
often collateral benefits, as well as opportunities and possibilities that
occur and can be taken advantage of. I
have always thought of the DLC as being somewhat parallel to a university. In addition to academic pursuits, research is
done and skills are learned that can lead to the establishment or spin off of
entrepreneurial ventures. One such
opportunity occurred when the owner, Jack Bey, of the company we worked with
that set up and installed the equipment (including antennas and dishes) for the
wireless connections, said to me that he was thinking about retiring and that
his kids were not interested in continuing on with his business. That meant that we would have to find some
other company or person to handle that aspect of the work needed in order for
us to continue to expand the Telehub Network.
I immediately thought of Ajamu Webster, the same staff member who led the
survey that enabled us to acquire our property and led to all of this. He now
owned his own civil and structural engineering firm, DuBOIS Consultants,
Inc. And his firm was the one that we
had relied on to coordinate the erection of the tower (the “Beacon of Hope”)
that enabled the Telehub Network to obtain a wider reach. Webster held talks with Jack Bey and also
did some research on the future possibilities of wireless
telecommunications. Realizing the
opportunities in this emerging field, he set up a new branch of his firm, which
was called “DuBOIS Wireless.” Francis
“Frank” Herndon, Jr. and Michael “Mike” Russell took on the business and
technical responsibilities, respectively, of getting things up and running.
Before long we felt as though it
would be good if we held some brain storming sessions to get a handle on where
we were and the direction in which we should head. Webster, Herndon and Russell of DuBOIS
Wireless, and George Walker, Harrison May and I from the DLC’s Telehub Network met
regularly on Tuesday evenings. Gloria
Fondren, who had a grant writing business, was invited to participate and help
facilitate the sessions. And Leah Russell, our CFO, occasionally attended also.
We discussed in more detail our
objectives of working with non-profit community organizations, including
churches and neighborhood organizations, the concept of working with small
businesses, and individual homes. We
went over the possibilities of conducting training sessions for businesses. The more we brain-stormed the more we
realized the need to expand our facilities (Harrison
had been telling us that we needed a larger building) to accommodate the rate
at which we were evolving. What we were
becoming aware of was the fact that even though we had the capabilities (i.e.
skills and talent) to accomplish our dreams and visions, what was holding us
back was our lack of resources. Nevertheless,
we still proceeded to put together some plans for a new building. Again we relied on the expertise of Ajamu Webster and
Henry Glass (a mechanical engineer who works in the construction industry and
tutors geometry in our math program) to guide us through the process. Things were moving right along. Various opportunities and possibilities were
opening up for us. We were involved in several
activities and were operating on several fronts.
As a consequence we began receiving
suggestion from our supporters that we should establish an advisory board. It was in 2003 that we turned to Phil Cole to
spearhead this task. We approached the various
corporations that had been supporting us to send representatives to be on our
advisory board. We also approached area
businesses, community organizations, politicians, etc. that had been supportive
of us to participate. The advisory board
usually meets on a quarterly basis. They
have been helpful in sharing information that has been quite useful. Several of the political representatives have
shared with us information about programs designed to help out with education
that we are in a position to take advantage of.
The representatives from the corporations shared with us how we could
take advantage of and apply for recourses that they had set up to do similar
things. The discussions and interchange
that take place has enabled us to develop innovative strategies in our efforts
to move forward, and to take advantage of opportunities that are available that
we sometimes would not be privy to. In
addition to that, the cross-fertilization and networking that has taken place
has enabled us to expand our visions in way we may not have otherwise.
An example of this may stem from
some of the discussions we are holding about partnering with some of the area
corporations to set up computer centers in rural areas; or to become a facility
to train their associates in updating their skills. With regard to this last concept, many
corporations realize the necessity of there being community based training
facilities to help prepare the local workforce to update their knowledge and
skills because of the continuing advance of the technology. Several of them have become aware of the
capabilities of the Learning
Center’s Telehub Network
as a result of these meetings. And we
began receiving invitations to discuss the possibility of us participating with
them in this capacity.
There are other
benefits and relationships that developed as a result of both our
relationship with area corporations, and having members and supporters of the
DLC who were associates therein. The
emergence of the Black Family Technology Awareness Association (BFTAA) was a
case in point. As indicated by the name,
this organization’s mission is to address the technological awareness of
African Americans by focusing primarily on families. It was organized by Tyrone Taborn of Baltimore to put on
programs that promoted the concept and is strongly supported by IBM and
Verizon. An SBC executive became aware
of it and thought it was a good concept to get involved with. He called it to the attention of effervescent
George Walker. He was encouraged to organize some interested
people, including some of his SBC associates of their Community Network and
members of the DLC’s Telehub Network, to kick off their initial activity. During the month of February (traditionally,
Black History Month) the group, which held it meetings at the Learning Center,
decided to conduct a week of activities that highlighted the role and benefits
of technology in the everyday lives of people.
Each day had a different location and theme, including education,
health, youth, and a recognition program for area persons that had made a
contribution in the field of technology.
One of the
persons so acknowledged was Harrison May for his vision and work in the
establishment of the Learning Center’s Telehub Network (and by-the-way, yours truly
for my work in helping to found the Learning
Center and my work in the
mathematics program that ultimately led to the establishment of the Computer
Department and the Telehub Network).
As a result
of the success of this activity, the interest it generated, and the need that
was being addressed, the group decided to proceed to establish and organization
so that it could carry on this mission.
Among the other groups that were enlisted to join in were Sprint’s
Diamond Network, the Black Data Processors Association (BDPA) and other persons
that shared the mission’s objectives.
Back to the event: it was our good fortune to be introduced to Craig Nulan who shared a spot with me on a panel discussion
on how the technology can be used to benefit our community. Craig, a Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT) computer science graduate, was impressed enough by what he
heard about the activities that were going on at the DLC that he wanted to get
involved with us. His coming happened at
an opportune time. For what had been
happening at the Center was the initial steps to establish an Internet based radio
station. And Craig had an interest in
working with pod-casting. Now while all
of this was going on, Marcus Brown,
who works with media education at Genesis school, was usually video taping many
of our programs, along with his students.
Also Ken Mosley,
an electrical engineering graduate from the University of Missouri School of
Mines at Rolla, had now taken over the technology responsibility of DuBOIS
Wireless. He too was participating with BFTAA, and had become a volunteer at
the DLC who was also interested in working with the radio project. Clearly one of the collateral benefits of the
BFTAA to the Learning
Center was its
association with “fellow travelers” and its developing network of technology
savvy persons.
The radio project had been
conceived as a result of a conversation I had with Keidi Obi Awadu of LIB Radio
(Living In Black, www.libradio.net). He had seen our website and gave me a
call. (We made arrangements for me to
have a discussion about W.E.B. DuBois in general, the Learning Center
and our Telehub Network on his show.)
While engaged in the telephone discussion we talked about the concept of
establishing networks throughout the country whereby his feed could be
rebroadcast in local areas. When I
brought this concept to the DLC group, they became interested. However, it was in an NBUF meeting where
discussions were held concerning the acculturation of our youth that I
mentioned the talks the DLC was having regarding the Internet radio that the
concept took root and began to grow.
Attending that meeting was Sharon Jackson,
who worked closely with the PTA at the J.S. Chick elementary African Centered
School. She took the initiative to organize the
project. George
Walker and I were participants in the effort with her,
although our role was primarily with the technology infrastructure.
Unfortunately, due to family
illness with Sharon,
and the energy the BFTAA project required of George and me, the radio project
became stalled. Fortunately, however, Trent Bell took up the mantle. Trent is an
electrician who is both a long time Learning
Center and NBUF
member. He reactivated the meetings and
this time we had even more people interested in participating. Among them were NBUF members Diallo
Jefferson, Julian Love and Claude
Hawkins, and also Osco Bolton, a former gang member who now mentors young
people. Now we had a good working team
that welcomed Craig and his talents with open arms.
But there is more: Lani Charles and Veronica McDaniel are members
of BFTAA who joined the Learning
Center’s reading
staff. Lani was a former student in our
science program when she was in high school.
She majored in journalism and works for SBC. She fondly remembered her experiences while
at the Learning Center and wanted to give back. Veronica was a former elementary school
teacher who also worked for SBC and saw this as an opportunity to work again
with our youth. It is noteworthy to
point out that while attending BFTAA meetings at the Learning Center,
they had on occasions engaged in dialogue with Elton
Gumbel about our reading program. As a consequence, they saw where their
participation not only would be appreciated but simultaneously would satisfy
their desire to work with our youth.
Needless to say that Linda Watkins, the director of our reading program,
was thrilled to have them join us and so too was the rest of the staff,
especially Elton.
All in all, BFTAA has been a boon
to the DLC in many ways. It has
developed a tremendous network that we have been able to pipe into. As it puts on programs, it also helps inform members
of the community about the happenings at the DLC. It therefore provides somewhat of a marketing
function for us. In addition, several of
its members help us out in other capacities.
Sherry Lumpkins, who has a web-page designing business, has offered to
help Calvin Robinson with our web page maintenance and classes. Tracy Brunston helped facilitate a workshop
when we held a retreat. Claresta Lewis
(whom I consider an expediter supreme) regularly cooperates with us to get
things done. Theresa Adair has offered to
help students prepare for their ACT and SAT examinations, and to help maintain
our “Black College” web site. And there are many other examples far too
numerous to include here.
We are beginning to
receive many inquires from corporations, individuals, entrepreneurs and
others as to how they can work with us or form a relationships. Russell Bronston, a member of BFTAA who works
in IT and has a web-page hosting business, witnessed such an occasion and suggested
that we should set up a committee to evaluate such proposals—and to determine
the feasibility and what it would take to work things out. He is also acquainted with Leah Russell, our CFO, so, as of this writing, they
have been charged with following through with working up his suggestion. So clearly, as people see the advantage of
working with the infrastructure set up by the Telehub Network, these inquiries
will continue to come our way. And our
Telehub Network will continue to evolve.
As we like to say: “We are
limited to our collective imagination.”
And our collective imagination is propelling us forward—it’s the motive
force that keeps us “Steppin’ Out.”
World Of Our Dreams | Prelude | [1] | [2] | [3] | [4] | [Interlude] | [5] | [6] | [7] | [Postlude]
W.E.B DuBois Learning Center | Telehub Network