By Lafe Tolliver, Esq
Guest Column
Don’t be bamboozled! The Ohio GOP is planning and hoping that you are unaware of the significance of the upcoming August 8 special election in which they are offering a devious plan by which they want to raise the numbers of voters needed to pass citizen-initiated legislation.
Citizen-initiated legislation, as currently now stands, can be passed into law by the voters with simply a majority plus one approval rate. The GOP plan would increase those numbers to sixty percent of voters needed to gain access to the ballot box.
The rationale of the GOP? Simple. They want to make it harder for voters to be in control of legislative initiatives that come from citizens promulgating constitutional changes. They believe that if they can demand higher voter turnout for such proposals, it is a good chance that many lazy and or ill-informed voters will stay away from the polls and by default, the GOP wins.
Don’t be a sap! Read and find out what is being falsely propagated by the GOP as some noble initiative that seeks the common good of all. Rather, it only seeks to satisfy their desire to remain in power at all costs; and if that cost means your vote being lessened in its strength, so be it.
Regrettably, the Ohio GOP does not spend its waking hours thinking of ways to improve the lives of the poor or middle-class people. They are welded at the wallet to fat cats and rich people who can pour money into their political coffers.
In America, class and race are still the ruling factors as to who gets what “goodies” that state legislatures pass out, but with a lower percentage of voters needed to initiate needed reform and each vote counting, you can have influence but only if you VOTE NO ON ISSUE ONE. The GOP is not a user-friendly party when it comes to legislation that allows a widening of voting opportunities. ISSUE ONE is not user friendly! VOTE NO!
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Recent media reports indicate that crime, especially violent crime, is down in Toledo.
That is especially good news since the mere thought of being a victim of crime impedes people’s desire to freely move around, especially at night. How many times have your heard people say that when it is dusk, they hunker down indoors due to the fear of the night and who is in the night.
As I have repeatedly said before, when people of color are the target of crime by other people of color, something is terribly amiss with societal relationships and with unresolved issues of anger, bitterness, greed, and a lack of civility for each person’s humanity.
There is nothing worse than criminal parasites using the “race card” to try to blend into the Black community when they are the malefactors of exploiting their fellow citizens.
Such warped people should find no solace in the thought that you will not “snitch” on them for their heinous acts. They deserve no hiding place nor your creature comforts as they wreak havoc on their “community” neighbors.
To me, snitches are heroes! They are guardians of the community, and you should become a regular snitch when you see wrong being done. Report it anonymously and do not give aid and comfort to the enemy, for such rascals are not your friends.
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Well, it is that time again in which I bemoan and commiserate about the Black churches in Toledo not being able to coalesce around economic issues that will benefit everyone.
When you realize the enormous wealth that collectively the Black churches control with their weekly tithes and offerings, special events and fundraisers, it is enough to make you say, “Where are you pastors and churches in being a bridge over troubled economic waters?”
In my humble opinion, I believe that many Black pastors in Toledo are terrified at the mere thought that they would come together and share the church wealth; and engage in projects that will enrich the very people from which they gain their sustenance.
I mean. Really. Imagine if the majority of Black churches were to call a conference and outline paths to real economic growth for the “inner city” and the engine to do so would be for each church, regardless of its size, to donate a firm percentage of its weekly monies to a common fund.
A fund that is professionally managed, bonded and has a set agenda and goals to achieve.
I know…I know. As soon as I say, each church “tithing” a tenth of their weekly monetary offerings to such a common fund, most pastors start to hyperventilate and hide behind their pulpits, shaking like a rag doll.
Why? Simple. Their love of money and the apparent distrust that they have in their fellow clergy members.
Question. Can pastors trust other pastors with a portion of their church funds? Answer: So far, in Toledo, the answer is a resounding and embarrassing No!
Two dollars to a donut that the gross weekly take of all the Black churches in Toledo runs nigh up to thirty-five thousand dollars PER WEEK!
And yet, where do you see visible results of those funds being invested in financial instruments or in business ventures in the Black community? You don’t.
If such a simple plan was started back in the, “Say It Loud…I am Black and Proud” sixties, The Black community would have had tens of millions of dollars available to leverage for the common good.
Could such a vision still take place? Sure, but only if you have visionary pastors and willing church members that want to be their own boss and take ownership of their space and time.
But, if you are an ill-informed or a tightwad pastor that does not believe in collective economics for the good of the whole, it will never happen in Toledo.
Oh, what could have been (and still can!).
Contact Lafe Tolliver @ tolliver@Juno.com