{"id":1833,"date":"2021-06-24T16:39:51","date_gmt":"2021-06-24T16:39:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/?p=1833"},"modified":"2021-06-24T16:39:51","modified_gmt":"2021-06-24T16:39:51","slug":"lakeith-jefferson-credits-his-father-for-his-decision-to-choose-a-construction-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/2021\/06\/24\/lakeith-jefferson-credits-his-father-for-his-decision-to-choose-a-construction-career\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakeith Jefferson credits his father for his decision to choose a construction career"},"content":{"rendered":"

Black history is an essential part of the history of our nation, our communities and our company. Black associates have been key members of the Rudolph Libbe Group team since our earliest years. In a series of articles this year, we are celebrating the contributions of current associates and retirees, and expressing our gratitude to them for being a part of the Rudolph Libbe Group. This month, we also celebrate Juneteenth National Independence Day as a federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.
\n\u2014Bill Rudolph, Chairman, Rudolph Libbe Group<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"Lakeith Jefferson, a warehouse associate at GEM Inc., credits his father, Willie Jefferson, for his decision to choose a construction career. Willie Jefferson worked 42 years as a laborer and operator at Rudolph Libbe Inc. before retiring in 2007.<\/p>\n

Lakeith worked in other industries before joining construction. \u201cI\u2019ve worked in restaurant management and in a hospital. The money\u2019s a lot better here. At other jobs, you\u2019re doing the same things all the time, but this is spontaneous. There are some jobs where you hate going to work. I love coming here.\u201d<\/p>\n

The work offers plenty of variety, but it\u2019s also demanding. On the hard days, he stays positive.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a mindset. I come here in a good mood, even if something goes wrong. If you come in sad, you\u2019re going to be sad all day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just as it was for his father, racism is a constant. Not at work, they both say, but in their personal lives. His 75-year-old father describes standing in his own front yard in a predominantly white neighborhood when a police officer stopped to ask if he lived there. Leaving for work in the early morning, he would often notice a police car following him. It stopped after he had lived in the neighborhood for a while.<\/p>\n

At nearly 50, Lakeith has had similar experiences. \u201cIt\u2019s rough. It can be bad sometimes. There\u2019s nothing here [on the job], but the police will follow me if I go out to lunch. I\u2019ve been stopped for having tinted windows. I was stopped coming back from Cedar Point.\u201d<\/p>\n

He worries about his 19-year-old son\u2019s safety. \u201cI gave him a talk. If he\u2019s pulled over, I\u2019ve told him, \u2018Don\u2019t do a lot of moving. Listen to what they say.\u2019 He\u2019d be nervous, so I\u2019ve told him, \u2018Don\u2019t make sudden moves. Be aware of your surroundings.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Treating others with decency and kindness is important. On the job, he believes in helping the younger generation be successful. \u201cOne thing about construction is when someone comes in who\u2019s new, the people who are getting old and ready to retire kind of dog them. You should show them the ropes instead of dogging them. I\u2019m going to be 50, so I\u2019m not too old to relate to them. I still believe in just being positive.\u201d<\/p>\n

RLGbuilds.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Black history is an essential part of the history of our nation, our communities and our company. Black associates have been key members of the Rudolph Libbe Group team since our earliest years. In a series of articles this year, we are celebrating the contributions of current associates and retirees, and expressing our gratitude to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"wf_post_folders":[62],"class_list":["post-1833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1833"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1833\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1835,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1833\/revisions\/1835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1833"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=1833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}