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Vol. 34 No. 6 • Thurs., Feb. 5, 2015 - Wed., Feb. 11, 2015 • An NCON Publication Serving The Milwaukee Area • 65¢
Pentagon's Clarence A. Johnson to keynote the 30th Annual Black Excellence Awards The Milwaukee Times will welcome Clarence A. “CJ” Johnson as keynote speaker for the 30th Anniversary Black Excellence Awards set for Friday, February 27, 2015 at the Italian Conference Center in downtown Milwaukee. Johnson is Director, Office of Diversity Management and Equal Opportunity for the U.S. Department of Defense. In that capacity, he is responsible for the development and coordination of diversity management and equal opportunities policies and programs affecting all Department of Defense civilian employees and Department of Defense military personnel within the department worldwide. He serves as principal advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel & Readiness) on diversity management, equal
opportunity, and equal employment opportunity matters. “We are pleased to have Mr. Johnson as our keynote speaker, given the fact that we are celebrating ‘Women in the Military’ as this year’s special honorees category,” said Jacquelyn Heath, Black Excellence Awards project manager. “He will add a special touch to the program as we pay tribute to the service and sacrifice of these outstanding female veterans in our community, as well as the contribution of the non-military Milwaukeeans and scholars being honored this year.” Before serving the Department of Defense as a civil servant, Mr. Johnson was an
tary of Defense for Equal Opportunity as Director, Military Equal Opportunity. He formulated and provided policy guidance to the military components regarding policies which prescribe, promote, coordinate and enforce equal opportunity and treatment of active duty and Reserve component military personnel; oversaw policy implementation and evaluated/ monitored the performance of Defense Department component proClarence A. Johnson grams; and provided staff oversight for the active duty Air Force colo- Defense Equal Opportunel serving in the Office of nity Management Institute, the Deputy Assistant Secre- the Department’s premiere
school in equal opportunity and equal employment opportunity training, education and research. Mr. Johnson earned a master’s degree in human resource management from Webster University in Missouri; and a bachelor’s degree in biology from Tuskegee University in Alabama. He is also a graduate of Air Command and Staff College and the War College, Alabama, and the National Security Management Course, National Defense University. His decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal (with one oak leaf cluster), the Legion of Merit, and the Meritorious Service Medal (with three oak leaf clusters). For tickets and more information call Milwaukee Times office at (414) 2635088.
Ralph Griffin shares a message of inspiration with hundreds of students during lectures at Madison High School Ralph Griffin, during a brief interview at the Milwaukee Times’ office on Tuseday, Febuary 3, 2015, said his Heating and Air Conditioning business is getting “better and better and it’s a profession that will be around forever.” Griffin was referring to Kinlow’s Heating and Air Conditioning, a firm he acquired several years ago from the previous owner he worked for who was “tired and ready to retire.” Griffin, a former veteran who served in the military working on tanks, said when he left the service, the only place where he could find work was with Kinlow’s Heating. Explaining his situation, Griffin said he got a job with Kinlow within 48 hours of being home. “Mr. Kinlow said: ‘Be here
tomorrow at 10:00 a.m.'," Griffin explained and he confessed admiringly that he’s “never been unemployed since.” Griffin said he was one of several local black business professionals from the community who were invited to make presentations about their professions, which placed the spotlight on Black History Month observance at Madison. Griffin estimates he spoke to more than 150 students who listened attentively and asked a host of questions. Griffin admitted he would not be in the profession he’s in today were it not for a criminal offense, which occurred earlier in his life. Photo by Yvonne Kemp Serving time in a correctional facility, Griffin said he (Continued on pg. 2) Ralph Griffin (standing) speaks to students at Madison High School.
Why would the state give $220 million to someone whose company is destroying Milwaukee neighborhoods?
Staff Photo
On a cold Thursday, January 29, 2015 in Milwaukee, more than 30 Common Ground leaders, students, and neighbors held a press conference in front of a crumbling duplex on North 44th St. No one is paying taxes on the vacant building, and it has 23 code violations. It is only one of 300 foreclosed properties controlled by Nationstar Mortgage. Wesley Edens owns the majority of the stock and is chairman of the
board of Nationstar Mortgage Company. According to a plan Governor Walker announced Tuesday, Edens is about to receive $220 million in Wisconsin taxpayer dollars to help him build an arena for another of his properties, the Milwaukee Bucks. Common Ground, a community-organizing group that inspected all 300 Nationstar properties in Milwaukee, is determined to prevent a taxpayer subsidy for
a new arena without a significant investment in neighborhoods. They are demanding that Edens meet with them to talk about his crumbling properties and how they are undermining the city of Milwaukee. Lloyd Johnson, cochair of Common Ground's Fair Play team, explained that houses such as this not only cause problems in (Continued on pg. 4)