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Volume 85 • Issue 43
Black Mayors Group set to ‘Renew’ after Financial Fraud Scandal
By George Curry NNPA
LL Cool J Page 12
May 30 - June 5, 2013
Despite Indictment Tyrone Brooks Stands Tall on Life Achievements By Charlotte Roy ADW Managing Editor
Mayor Kevin Johnson, Sacramento, Calif. With embarrassing internal issues addressed and its sights set firmly on expanding its global impact, the National Conference of Black Mayors (NCBM) kicks off its 39th annual convention in Atlanta this week. The theme of this year’s conference is “Restore, Rebuild, Renew.” And perhaps no one can appreciate the need for those three Rs more than Vanessa R. Williams, the association’s executive director and CEO. Three years ago the FBI informed Williams in a surprise call that the president of the organization, St. Gabriel, La. Mayor George Grace, had been siphoning off money from the organization for more than a decade using a fake bank account. According to Williams, the beloved and respected president, who was affectionately called “Daddy Grace,” had become a total dis-grace – to his city, to the NCBM and to himself. However, a key group of leaders, placing their personal reputation on the line, rallied to stabilize and then revive the National Conference of Black Mayors. Leading the charge was Mayor Robert Bowser of East Orange, N.J., its former – and soon to be future – president. “When Mayor Bowser was president before, he got the organization in the black. Then he had to come back and rescue it again,” Williams said. Also in the forefront to reclaim the NCBM was Kevin Johnson, mayor of Sacramento, Calif., and first vice president. Johnson, who is expected to be elected president of the group in Atlanta, told Williams, “I am here, and I am going to be here for you.” And he was.
LIVING
WELL
Surprisingly, about a half dozen long-time corporate sponsors – including Coca Cola, John Deere, Comcast, AT&T and United Water – did not abandon the Black mayors in their time of need. Some reduced their funding, waiting to see how the organization would rebound, but at least one increased its sponsorship dollars. In a statement issued last week, the mayors said: “The Board of Directors of the NCBM realizes that these unfortunate events have not only unfairly harmed the organization, they have also created financial hardships for some of our valued friends and vendors. “We are on target to repay at least 80 percent of all outstanding debts within the next 30 days and the remainder by the end of this year.” After failing to hold a national convention for three years, the Black mayors resumed having national conventions last year. In those struggling three years, the group expanded its international presence, which may hold the key to its future success. Williams has seen the organization grow from 682 Black mayors in the U.S. to more than 26,0000 worldwide. At least 300 mayors are expected to attend the convention from abroad, most of them from Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda, Columbia and throughout the Caribbean. For the first time in months, Williams, who agreed to work pro bono during the toughest financial stretch, is upbeat and all smiles. “We’re going to fight through this and say, ‘With God’s help, this, too, shall pass,’” she said.
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As renowned Georgia civil rights activist State Rep. Tyrone Brooks, 67, prepares to fight a fierce battle for his reputation and his legacy, he spoke poignantly to the Atlanta Daily World about his life’s work. Under recent federal indictment for allegedly siphoning off money from contributions to two charities for his own use, Brooks talked about the pain these accusations have brought him. “In 1966 in Newton County during a civil rights protest, Sheriff Junior Odom cocked a shotgun and pointed it at my head,” said Brooks. “He wanted me to leave town and said so in foul language. I told him that if he didn’t pull that trigger I’d be back again tomorrow. “But no bullet could hurt me as much as the words that woman (United States Attorney Sally Yates) uttered,” Brooks continued. “She said that Tyrone Brooks is a thief. ” He paused then added quietly. “Everyone knows that civil rights activists don’t take. We give. I’ve given everything but my life to make this a better world.” Friends who have rallied to his support agree. Religious, NAACP and SCLC leaders speak of his lifelong commitment to civil rights and the impact he has had in the more than 50 years he has given to the cause. He is considered one of the most popular and hardest-working legislators in state government. Former Gov. Roy Barnes, who is representing Brooks for free against the federal indictment, said at a recent press conference, “His life is about service, not amassing great wealth. If his life had been about wealth, he could afford to pay me.” Brooks began his work at age 15 when he walked into the offices of the SCLC and under the guidance of two mentors, Rev. Ralph Abernathy and Hosea Williams, joined the cause. “Tyrone has been called ‘Mr. Rural Georgia’ because of the fight he has waged in the small towns across this state,” said Rev. Anthony Motley of the Lindsey Street Baptist Church. “Registering people to vote, encouraging Blacks to run for office and assert their civil rights. His life has been phenomenal.” “He’s called the ‘Energizer Bunny’ because he doesn’t stop moving,” said lifelong friend Bill Cannon. “He made a commitment to serve God by serving the underserved.” Asked what three things he’d most like to be remembered for, Brooks made a quick list. In the days before he died, Martin Luther King Jr. was just beginning to investigate the 1946 lynching of two young African-American couples -- George and May Dorsey and Roger and Dorothy Malcolm at Moore’s Ford Bridge in Walton County. Dorothy, who was 7 months pregnant, had her baby cut from her womb and killed. Brooks has continued year after year to advocate for follow up on the investigation and to remind people of the heinous crime with a reenactment at the Bridge. “I’d like to be remembered for my commitment to not letting this crime go unpunished and forgotten,” he said. “It was the something that Martin wanted to do.” continued on page 3