My partner and myself worked on the Over the Rhine plan and have gotten grants from the Empowerment Zone for youth. Although not from here we started in 1996, at the 5th and Race Street Tower, to work and develop our company and organization here. We are an Architectural, Engineering, Construction Management and Business Consulting firm partnered with a female general contractor who started out as an IBEW journeyman.
What most people don't realize about their African American neighbors is that we are the result of a 400 year breeding experiment, that worked. For those who don’t know -slavery in America started in Florida in 1565
In this experiment the first 300 years the US government, when it was formed, had laws that keep blacks as uneducated as possible, except for those who built the infrastructure that whites used. The custom was codified in many ways but a speech that was delivered by Willie Lynch on the bank of the James River in the colony of Virginia in 1712 says it best, in our minds at least. Lynch was a British slave owner in the West Indies. He was invited to the colony of Virginia in 1712 to teach his methods to slave owners there. The term "lynching" is derived from his last name. The speech in whole is quoted here:
"Gentlemen. I greet you here on the bank of the James River in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and twelve. First, I shall thank you, the gentlemen of the Colony of Virginia, for bringing me here. I am here to help you solve some of your problems with slaves. Your invitation reached me on my modest plantation in the West Indies, where I have experimented with some of the newest and still the oldest methods for control of slaves. Ancient Rome's would envy us if my program is implemented.
As our boat sailed south on the James River, named for our illustrious King, whose version of the Bible we Cherish, I saw enough to know that your problem is not unique. While Rome used cords of wood as crosses for standing human bodies along its highways in great numbers, you are here using the tree and the rope on occasions. I caught the whiff of a dead slave hanging from a tree, a couple miles back. You are not only losing valuable stock by hangings, you are having uprisings, slaves are running away, your crops are sometimes left in the fields too long for maximum profit, You suffer occasional fires, your animals are killed.
Gentlemen, you know what your problems are; I do not need to elaborate. I am not here to enumerate your problems, I am here to introduce you to a method of solving them. In my bag here, I HAVE A FULL PROOF METHOD FOR CONTROLLING YOUR BLACK SLAVES. I guarantee every one of you that if installed correctly IT WILL CONTROL THE SLAVES FOR AT LEAST 300 HUNDREDS YEARS[1792+300=2092].
My method is simple. Any member of your family or your overseer can use it. I HAVE OUTLINED A NUMBER OF DIFFERENCES AMONG THE SLAVES; AND I TAKE THESE DIFFERENCES AND MAKE THEM BIGGER. I USE FEAR, DISTRUST AND ENVY FOR CONTROL PURPOSES. These methods have worked on my modest plantation in the West Indies and it will work throughout the South. Take this simple little list of differences and think about them.
On top of my list is "AGE" but it's there only because it starts with an "A." The second is "COLOR" or shade, there is INTELLIGENCE, SIZE, SEX, SIZES OF PLANTATIONS, STATUS on plantations, ATTITUDE of owners, whether the slaves live in the valley, on a hill, East, West, North, South, have fine hair, course hair, or is tall or short.
Now that you have a list of differences, I shall give you a outline of action, but before that, I shall assure you that DISTRUST IS STRONGER THAN TRUST AND ENVY STRONGER THAN ADULATION, RESPECT OR ADMIRATION. The Black slaves after receiving this indoctrination shall carry on and will become self refueling and self generating for HUNDREDS of years, maybe THOUSANDS.
Don't forget you must pitch the OLD black Male vs. the YOUNG black Male, and the YOUNG black Male against the OLD black male. You must use the DARK skin slaves vs. the LIGHT skin slaves, and the LIGHT skin slaves vs. the DARK skin slaves. You must use the FEMALE vs. the MALE. And the MALE vs. the FEMALE.
You must also have you white servants and over- seers distrust all Blacks. But it is NECESSARY THAT YOUR SLAVES TRUST AND DEPEND ON US. THEY MUST LOVE, RESPECT AND TRUST ONLY US. Gentlemen, these kits are your keys to control. Use them. Have your wives and children use them, never miss an opportunity. IF USED INTENSELY FOR ONE YEAR, THE SLAVES THEMSELVES WILL REMAIN PERPETUALLY DISTRUSTFUL
This was the mostly white manner of the Spanish, British and American slavery in the Americas. It was a plan that has succeeded. Now we must address the results of the breakdown.
In this city we have the resources:
We, the residents of the city of Cincinnati, own a rails road that pays us $16M a year;
we own a water works system that is worth over $400M dollars;
we own the Blue Ash Airport and its 200 developable acres;
we are designated a Empowerment Zone with over $100M locked up in it;
our city has the ability to issue up to $300M in revenue bonds to create employment for its residents;
our city has the only fully vested pension fund for city workers in the state of Ohio, in a major city, some 2 billion dollars, that is not invested in real estate here rather 50% or more is in stock on the New York Stock Exchange, and;
we have a plan in development for using these and the other resources at our disposal including creating a new police force that would be accountable directly to the residents of the communities it serves and ending the boycott based on the five point agenda set forth in Dr. Daniels report Executive Summary and Recommendations and his Executive Summary and Recommendations both are adobe PDF files.
Lets use it and Change Cincinnati NOW.
We start on Sunday in Walnut Hills at Peeples corner. We will join in with a group of African-American pastors from Methodist churches here is launching an outreach ministry [although our organization itself is not a faith based organization we do sponsor one and support this ministry] for men and boys to address violence that threatens city neighborhoods.
"We're trying to put a human face on Christianity from the male point of view - to show that you can be macho and a Christian," said Melvin Williams, president of the Cincinnati District United Methodist Men. "We're determined that we're going to bring in the white brothers from the suburbs," said the Rev. Dr. Fred Heath, pastor of Ammons United Methodist Church.
The pastors are inviting men from churches of all denominations - including white congregations in the suburbs - to join them at 9 a.m. Sunday. They will gather at 934 E. McMillan St. and march to Ammons United Methodist Church on Gilbert Avenue and McMillan. Each man is asked to bring a boy to mentor. Social service agencies such as Big Brothers-Big Sisters and Prisoners Helping Prisoners will set up booths at the church. The event is expected to last a little more than an hour.
Later that day at 5pm on at 2439 Auburn on the corner of McMillan and Auburn at the former Mt. Auburn United Methodist Church there will be a rally to plan about changing the city. Included will be a plan of action to redevelop OTR through revenue bonds, collateralized mortgage obligations and other financial instruments along with development and or support for over 100 businesses in OTR.
