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Black
Emergency Managers Association International
Washington,
D.C.
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Sunday, February 27, 2022
Just Imagine. Working together for our communities. February 2022
Friday, February 25, 2022
You are a part of history, everyday. 5,357 school facilities for African American students in 15 states established between 1913 and 1932
You are a part of history and contributing to
the message, the narrative, the story everyday.
The good, the bad, and the ugly.
Know the past to know the future.
BEMA International
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 To fight injustice, he built schools  La Verne Gray, left, was a
student at this former school in Capitol Heights, Maryland, one of more than
5,000 built to educate Black American children in the early 20th century,
when public schools refused to admit them. The massive building campaign was
partly funded and driven by philanthropist Julius Rosenwald. Today, Dorothy
Canter, right, is working to preserve some of the Rosenwald Schools still
standing and make them into a multi-site element of our National Park system. Photo by Jason Sauler
 Interior shot of the renovated Ridgeley School in Capitol Heights, Prince George's County, Maryland.Photo by Preservation Maryland By Glenda C. Booth Posted on January 31, 2022 “All the other pleasures of life
seem to wear out, but the pleasure of helping others in distress never does.” Bethesda retiree Dorothy Canter was “blown away” when she saw “Rosenwald,” a 2015 documentary directed by Aviva Kempner that told the story of Julius Rosenwald, a philanthropist who built more than 5,000 schools for African American children who were denied the right to public education during the Jim Crow era. Born in 1862 to German Jewish immigrants who came to the U.S. fleeing persecution in the mid-1800s, Rosenwald left his Illinois home at 16 for New York City. There he learned the clothing trade, never completing high school. When
he was 23, he moved to Chicago and opened a company making men’s suits.
Sears, Roebuck & Co., then a struggling new company that sold many
products by mail order, was a client. Rosenwald eventually headed Sears,
transforming it into a retail powerhouse. Rosenwald believed in the Jewish concepts of tikkun olam, “repair the world,” and tzedakah, which means “righteousness, charity and responsibility.” He had a “give while you live” philosophy, believing that every generation should create wealth and direct it for use in their time. He was alarmed at the injustices against African Americans, and in 1911 befriended Booker T. Washington, founder of the Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University), and joined Tuskegee’s board. At Washington’s urging, Rosenwald helped six rural Alabama communities raise money to build schoolhouses at a time when there were few or no schools for African American children in the rural South. From that effort with Washington grew a financing partnership combining Rosenwald’s grants and local contributions that led to the construction of 5,357 school facilities for African American students in 15 states between 1913 and 1932. Inspired to
create a national park
Before
seeing the film, Canter, a retired Ph.D. biophysicist, had never heard of
Rosenwald. As she walked out of Washington’s Avalon Theater, she had a
lightbulb moment and told her husband, “We need a national park to honor
him.”
Inspired, Canter established the Rosenwald Schools National Historical Park campaign, recruited board members, met with national park and historic preservation officials, recruited 107 supporting nonprofits, commissioned three studies and is president of the campaign — all as a volunteer. Her
group wants the National Park Service to create a multi-site national park
honoring Rosenwald’s legacy, with a visitors’ center in Chicago, the
philanthropist’s hometown. Canter dreams of being first in line at the ribbon cutting for the new Rosenwald Park, the country’s first of more than 400 in the U.S. to honor a Jewish American. Like Rosenwald’s parents, Canter’s Eastern European and Russian grandparents came to the U.S. to escape persecution. “They stressed the importance of education and social justice,” Canter said of her grandparents. “Like so many immigrants, they contributed to our nation. I will be very proud to see a story that reflects some of their history shared in a new national park.” A biography of
Rosenwald Board
member and D.C. resident Stephanie Deutsch learned from a newspaper wedding
announcement that her husband’s great-grandfather was Julius Rosenwald.
A stay-at-home mom for years, Deutsch became so intrigued with the story that she wrote a book, You Need a Schoolhouse: Booker T. Washington, Julius Rosenwald, and the Building of Schools for the Segregated South. She probed archives and visited two dozen Rosenwald Schools. Learning the story “opened my eyes to the African American experience,” Deutsch said. “In the face of prejudice and exclusion, they built up very strong institutions.” Deutsch
describes her book and volunteer work to preserve the history of Rosenwald
schools as her “second act.” Today, she’s on the campaign’s board and is
writing a second book about the fellowships Rosenwald created in 1928 for
talented African Americans. Nearly 900 artists and scholars received Rosenwald Fund grants, among them Langston Hughes, Marian Anderson, Ralph Ellison and Jacob Lawrence. Twelve worked with Thurgood Marshall on the landmark Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court case that found segregated schools to be unconstitutional. Thousands of students — including John Lewis and Maya Angelou — flourished in Rosenwald schools throughout the country. Many schools in
this areaRosenwald’s
donations, matched with local contributions, led to the construction of 382
Rosenwald buildings in Virginia between 1917 and 1932, and 150 schools in
Maryland, including 27 in Prince George’s County and 17 in Montgomery County.
In 1927, Marylander LaVerne Gray’s family donated two acres of their farm in Capitol Heights for a Rosenwald school. Gray’s mother, Mildred Ridgeley-Gray, attended the Ridgeley School starting in 1927 and later taught there. Gray also attended Ridgeley from 1949 to 1954, when the school closed following the Supreme Court’s decision. The Ridgeley School, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, still stands today, fully restored in 2011. “It’s part of a
great story of how a community of former slaves could educate their children
— and when the opportunity came along, they grabbed it,” Gray said. “It’s a story of the camaraderie between Rosenwald and Black people to enhance the lives of us all. It’s a great American story.” Endangered
schools
From
the 1920s to the 1940s, about one-third of Black children in the South
attended Rosenwald Schools. After the Supreme Court’s ruling to end school
segregation in 1954, public school systems gradually desegregated.
As
a result, many of the Rosenwald school buildings were abandoned or
demolished. In 2002, the National Trust for Historic Preservation put Rosenwald
Schools on its “11 Most Endangered Historic Places” list, noting that only 10
to 12 percent of the buildings still stand. Many people are working to save those existing buildings. For instance, the 100-year-old Scrabble School in Rappahannock County, Virginia, was restored after being neglected for four decades, thanks to some of its alumni. “I am very excited to have this nice little gem of a place,” said Nan Butler Roberts, president of the nonprofit Scrabble School Preservation Foundation Roberts
attended the Scrabble School for first through fourth grade, 1962 to 1966,
and recalls that her teacher had to commute 75 miles one way weekly from
Lynchburg. She helped restore the building as a senior center in 2009. “I’m a doer when I get involved in something I’m passionate about,” she explained. The national park
campaign
Canter’s group hopes to include many of the remaining Rosenwald school buildings in the national park system. So far, the campaign to establish the Julius Rosenwald & Rosenwald Schools National Historical Park has raised funds and prepared several studies on Rosenwald’s legacy and the schools. The studies concluded that Rosenwald and the Rosenwald Schools are of national historic significance and that the park would be an important enhancement to the national park system. One study identified Chicago sites for the future visitors’ center. Working with state historic preservation officials, the group recommended 56 former school facilities for possible inclusion in the national park system. They
lobbied Congress to pass a bill, which became law last year, requiring the
National Park Service to conduct a special resources study, the normal
prelude to creating a national park. The
Park Service will determine if there are nationally significant natural or
cultural resources, and whether they are a suitable and feasible addition to
the park system. Campaign members volunteer untold hours and energy to move the project forward, inspired by Rosenwald and Washington. “The important lesson is in how people can partner and get something done,” said Fairfax County resident Jordan Tannenbaum, a campaign board member. The schools represent the story of “Jewish and Black communities working together toward a common goal to achieve betterment of the country.” To
find out more about the campaign to establish a national park, visit rosenwaldpark.org. The Scrabble School will premiere a documentary and unveil a historic marker later this year. Visit scrabbleschool.org. For information about the Ridgeley School, now
a museum in Prince George’s County open by appointment only, visit pgparks.com/3022/Ridgeley-Rosenwald-School or
email blackhistory@pgparks.com. |
Tuesday, February 22, 2022
2022-2023 Next Generation of Black and Hispanic Farmers Scholarship Program Application Deadline May 15, 2022
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Monday, February 21, 2022
Race for the Net. "...due to a lack of capital". February 2022
 About the Book In 1993, an African American company achieved one of the most critical roles in technology history — opening access to the Internet and World Wide Web for the global community. More than 4.2 billion people currently utilize the Internet today making it the most crucial technology of the 20th and 21st centuries adopting and changing of people’s lives around the world today and in the future. No other company has had more to do with bringing the Internet to the global community than the original Network Solutions, an African American founded technology company. Tragically, due to a lack of capital, Network Solutions and the African American Community were unable to substantially reap the financial rewards. In 1995, during the period of significant internet growth, the founders were forced to sell the company for only $5 million. Then, in 2000, less than five years later, the company was sold again for $21 billion in what was, at that time, the largest sale of a non-telecommunications company in history. The inability of the founders to raise sufficient capital to allow them to maintain control of the company that opened the door for people around the world to use the Internet was a major business calamity! RACE FOR THE NET tells the story of the origin and rise of Network Solutions, and the vision and sacrifices of its founders. The book discusses issues related to their historical accomplishment and what led them to relinquish ownership of the company. Additionally, the book looks at the future of the internet revolution, and the digitization and mechanization of our society. This book is an excellent read for those who want to know how the Internet became a public entity and how an African American company was responsible for linking the world. RACE FOR THE NET provides a “road map” for the reader on various areas that are still open for opportunities on the internet today. While pointing out shifting job opportunities and risks of future technology of the Internet of Things (IOT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). It is estimated that Internet technology provides more than $7 trillion to our economy today. |
Sunday, February 20, 2022
2022 National CERT Conference Announcement August 18 through Saturday, August 20, 2022
2022
National CERT Conference Announcement
The National CERT Association
(NCA) is excited to announce that the 2022 National CERT Conference
Registration is now OPEN!!!
The 2022 National CERT Conference, is
planned by a National Conference committee, in partnership with FEMA Region 6,
and is hosted by the Galveston CERT program. The conference will be held
at the San Luis Resort and Conference Center, Galveston Texas. The main
conference will be Thursday, August 18 through Saturday, August 20.
Pre-conference training will be held Monday, August 15 through Wednesday,
August 17.
Conference Highlights
The 2022 National CERT Conference Theme is “Talking CERT to the Next Level” and will feature presentations and workshops led by CERT leaders across the US. Agenda highlights include an Equity Panel, presentations on CERT Resource Typing, and CERT Disaster Response lessons learned (including Covid19).
A welcome reception will be held on Wednesday, August 17, 2022.
Pre-Conference training
Pre-Conference training will feature
several high-demand training opportunities including:
·
CERT
Train-the-Trainer Course (August 15 – 17)
·
CERT
Program Manager Course (August 16-17)
·
Wide-Area
Search (August 15-17)
· Volunteer and Donations Management and Spontaneous Volunteer Management Combined Course (August 16-17)
*Participants must register in advance for pre-conference training. Space is limited and course are expected to fill quickly. Pre-Conference Training will be an additional $50 to cover the cost of lunch. Pre-conference participants must register for the main conference.
Conference Hotel
The 2022 National CERT Conference will be held at the Galveston Convention Center at the San Luis Resort. There are 3 hotels on campus at the San Luis Resort. A number of rooms have been reserved at special conference pricing at all three hotels. Prices are the same at all locations $129 per night single occupancy, $169 per night double occupancy. IF you call for reservations, must inform them that you are with NCA for the reduced room rates. Resort fee, taxes and parking not included. Shuttle service between hotels and Conference Center is included (provided by the hotel).
1.
San
Luis Resort and Spa (We were unable to get a link to
work, please copy and paste the following text to your browser: https://sanluisresort.reztrip.com/classic/en/special_offer?action=show&controller=landings&locale=en&rate_code[]=NCA22&rate_code[]=NCA22&starting_page=special_offer
2.
Holiday
Inn
Reserve your room click here
3.
Hilton
Reserve your room click here
Book your rooms early as the room blocks are expected to sell out.
Conference Registration
Conference Registration is
$550.
Early Bird Registration is $450 (ends
May 17th)
NCA Members who are Active CERT Volunteers get a reduced registration costs of $330 with verification of CERT affiliated organization. See website for further details.
*Note that there is an additional $50 charge above the prices listed above to attend pre-conference training.
Click Here to register for Conference or Pre-Conference Training: Conference Registration
Sign up for the 2022 National CERT Conference email list here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2022NationalCERTConferenceEmailList
NCA’s Dedication to supporting CERT
Volunteers
Volunteers are the backbone of the CERT program. The NCA wants to support the attendance of CERT volunteers at the National CERT Conference. In addition to the lower registration cost of $330 for CERT Volunteers (that are NCA members), 150 volunteers (that are NCA members) will receive an additional $105 off. The NCA has allocated a portion of the conference sponsorships to provide volunteers that are NCA members with this special discount. The first three volunteers, from each state or territory, that complete the surveymonkey below will be given a special registration code for the discounted ticket. All other requests will be waitlisted. On May 1, 2022, the waitlist will be open and the volunteers that have requested the discounted tickets will receive a special code (in chronological order), until all 150 discounted tickets are exhausted, regardless of their state or territory.
To request a discount code for registration, please fill out the survey at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VSYTFPT It may take 24-36 hours to receive your code if you are approved.
Want to support the 2022 National CERT
Conference?
If you are interested in attending our conference as a Vendor or Sponsor, please contact the Conference Chairman, Jamie Cunningham at Jamie@NationalCERT.org
Want to present at the 2022 National
CERT Conference?
If you are interested in presenting a workshop or training at the 2022 National CERT Conference, please email the conference agenda chair, Ellen Pinder, at Ellen.pinder@charlottecountyfl.gov.
Stay connected
To get more information about the
National CERT Association go to our website at https://nationalcert.org
If you have any questions feel free to call or text 239-825-8075.
Friday, February 18, 2022
Grant Opportunities: February and March Technical Assistance Webinar Series
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