Category Archives: Economy
Chick-fil-A anti-gay sentiment just provided a platform
Chick-fil-A’s president Dan Cathy expressed his personal opinion about gay marriage and the backlash has commenced. Politicians all over the country are hopping mad about his stance, Chicago Mayor Emmanuel going so far as to block expansion of a privately held Chick-fil-A to demonstrate his displeasure.
While I find Mr. Cathy and his remarks narrow minded and offensive, he’s no worse than other corporations that have atrocious histories of discrimination. So where is the outcry and outrage over those? Wal-Mart has been sued, and lost, multiple times for racial discrimination, discriminatory hiring practices and sexual harassment - how many politicians …
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Posted in Economy, Jobs, Politics, Racism, Women's Issues
Tagged Community, equal pay, Equity, Kris Kieper, Politics, Sexual Harassment, Women
The way to hope begins with a change in mindset
Ed Wells takes a lot of punishment from people who aren’t interested in looking at an issue from a different perspective. I’ve never met Mr. Wells, but I have empathy for him in the barrage of negative feedback he receives from his articles, you could say we sometimes have that in common. Normally, I find his articles interesting and they make me think. His last article about restoring hope to the hopeless just scratched the surface of the problem with poverty and a life of crime – obviously readers had issues with his perspective.
Mr. Wells writes: “I want to …
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Posted in Crime, Economy, Education, Jobs, Poverty, Winnebago County
Tagged Civic Engagement, Community, Community Development, Crime, Education, Equity, Kris Kieper, Parenting
It’s All About Winning
Republican/Democrat, race, gender, socioeconomic status, pro-choice/right-to-life, pro-gay marriage/anti-gay marriage, Coke/Pepsi; just look at the articles in any newspaper, blogs and their comments or simply turn on talk radio to see and feel the constant division and tendency to choose the box we want to be tucked into today. For the past two months, I’ve avoided consuming any local news outside the actual newspaper. No blogs, no online comments, no talk radio, nothing. And you know what? I feel better!
Submersing myself on a near daily basis with all the negative people who feel they must put their two cents worth in on …
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Posted in Economy, Education, Health, Immigration, Jobs, Politics, Poverty, Racism, Rockford, Uncategorized, Winnebago County
Tagged Community, Community Development, Equity, Kris Kieper, Politics
Opportunity and classism trump race in Rockford’s divide
“Help me understand why in 2012 we are still facing issues with race in Rockford.” Mike Brown asks for clarity in his recent blog; I applaud his candor and desire to better understand his new community. I think this is a question that is not simple to answer, however, and has as more to do with opportunity, classism and education than it does race.
There are predominately more people of color living on the westside and visibly more whites living east. That in and of itself isn’t necessarily bad if that’s where people choose to live. What’s bad is that …
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Posted in City of Rockford, Crime, Economy, Education, Health, Jobs, Parenting, Poverty, Racism, Rockford, Uncategorized
Tagged Community, Community Development, Crime, Education, Equity, Kris Kieper, law enforcement, Parenting, racism
Why is “white” the comparitive?
Rockford Health Council hosted a community event on February 22 that should have drawn much more attention and participation than it did from the community. The event was entitled “Health Equity: Deepening the Dialogue”; Dr. Terry Mason, Chief Medical Officer of the Cook County Health and Hospitals System provided the keynote and offered some eye-opening statistics and information.
Approximately 150 people from the community were in attendance, many from the fields of health care, human services, religion, government and a few business professionals – mostly people I see at other meetings. Unfortunately there was very little participation from the community at …
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