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Dear HJA,
The Sparks is the ORR's online communication tool. We hope that
ORR members and friends will find this E-newsletter a great way to
stay connected to the ORR family and promote your products, events
and services within and beyond the Overground RR!!© community.
Welcome aboard
| Faye Coffield Investigations: We Need To Develop New
Buying, Spending and Business Habits |
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Private investigator and ORR member Faye Coffield took a
few moments to talk to SPARKS about her line of work, and to
share some thoughts about economic development in African
American communities.
ORR: Tell us about what you do and how you got into this
field,
Coffield: I went straight into it after retiring from the
Atlanta Police Department as a sergeant in 2003. I specialize
in criminal defense cases, civil rights and police misconduct
investigations. For those old enough to recall the old Perry
Mason TV show, I do for defense attorneys in Atlanta what the
Paul Drake character did for Perry Mason. I research the
records, I conduct the interviews, I uncover and interpret the
facts so that good defense attorneys can successfully defend
their clients in court.
Unfortunately, innocent people accused of crimes do go to
jail when they cannot prove their innocence. That's the
system. And regrettably, there are also enough cases of police
misconduct and violations of civil rights to keep me working.
As a longtime law enforcement professional I am thoroughly
familiar with both the official and unofficial cultures of
policing, by which I mean the rules and regulations law
enforcement officers operate under as opposed to the way some
officers actually conduct themselves, I can wade through
volumes of reports and zero in on the key facts that make the
difference.
ORR: Do you operate as an individual or are you part of an
agency, and do you only work for attorneys?
Coffield: I'm licensed and insured to the hilt, both as an
agency and as an individual, and in my case, I am the agency.
These days I work pretty much exclusively for defense
attorneys --- no domestic stuff, no missing persons, no death
penalty cases. There are enough others who want that business.
It's not like what you see on TV, and even though, as I
said, I don't do death penalty stuff, it's still very serious
business. Police work is a profession, and when you deal with
cops you need somebody on your team who is familiar with the
profession's rules of engagement. This is why private
investigators like me are essential elements of many
successful criminal defense law practices. I really like what
I do.
ORR: Talk to us about how you learned of the ORR, and what
it means to your line of work and more broadly to the African
American community.
Coffield: Hank
Stewart, who is a poet and an old friend of mine, led me
into it. For some reason our people are reluctant to spend our
money with black businesses, to go a step out of their way to
keep the dollar in circulation in our communities. This is a
piece of conditioning we have to get over. That's what the ORR
is about --- helping us teach each other the kind of new
buying, spending and business habits that are essential if
we're ever going to turn the page and move ahead.
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| First Annual Congress on the State of Black Business in
Metro Atlanta |
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$28 billion is spent each year by African Americans in five
counties of metro Atlanta alone. Of this, only 2% stays in our
neighborhoods, according to the Atlanta Business League.
This Thursday, December 6, from 8:30 AM to 2 PM more than
300 business, professional and community leaders will come
together at the Morehouse College Leadership Center to do
something about it.
At the Atlanta
Business League's Congress on the State of Black Business
in Metro Atlanta a groundbreaking study will
be unveiled. This original research, conducted by Dr.
Edward Davis, Dean of Clark Atlanta's School of Business will
quantify and analyze the current and potential profiles of
Atlanta's Black business community, and place metro Atlanta's
Black consumer spending in metro in its proper context.
"We're excited about this research and about the congress,"
ABL Vice Chair For Public Policy Joe Hudson told the ORR.
"This is brand new information. This enables to us take the
conversation from socio-economics straight to economics. There
are huge Black consumer, institutional and business-to
business marketplaces out here. Somebody owns them. It ought
to be us.
"This congress is not about 'what we're gonna do' any more.
It's about what we are doing right now and will do in the
future to get and keep control of our own African American
consumer, institutional, governmental and business-to-business
markets. This is a plan in which everybody has a part to play
--- businesses as well as consumers on every level, and of
course the churches."
"Morehouse, at the Leadership Center is the place to be on
Thursday December 6. Our own ABL president and CEO Leona
Barr-Davenport will be joined by Georgia Tech's Professor of
Economics Dr. Danny Boston, along with leaders of the
religious and business communities. The study itself, Economic
Impact of Black Businesses on the Atlanta Community will be
made publicly available on our web site soon after the
congress."
"This is a new direction for our businesses, our churches, our communities," said
ORR President and Interim Executive Director H.J.A. Alexander.
"It's a goal we at the ORR, and many others including the ABL
have been pointing to and working toward for a long time. The
idea of us controlling our own market in the African American
community is not a new one. It's one that's been talked about
and theorized about forever. It's an idea that can and will
change the world as we know it.
"For that reason the ORR will be enthusiastic participants
in the Black Business Congress. We urge everybody to come on
down to Morehouse this Thursday, and to review the study when
it's made available on the web, and to implement the measures
that the Congress will recommend. It's time to take this from
the realm of theory to the world of action."
Registration for the First Annual Congress on the State of
Black Business in Metro Atlanta is $25. Call 404-584-8126 for
more information.
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| Free Video Promotional Announcements For ORR
Businesses, Churches, Community Alliances Are Available on New
ORR Web Site |
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The clock is ticking down to the debut of the ORR's new web
site. ORR's new site will contain a wealth of information,
connections and opportunities available nowhere else for
member businesses, churches and community alliances.
On the new web site, ORR church affiliates can show
videos of their special events, pastoral greetings, sermons,
lectures and more at no charge. Current ORR business members
are invited to call for 404-346-0808 for appointments to film
their own video web commercials, anywhere from 30 seconds to
two full minutes. The ORR will even assist you in writing the
script for your promotional video. Alternatively, ORR
businesses may film and edit their own promotional spots or
special events, and send them into the ORR office. Edited
videos should be in .AVI or .FLV format. Call 404-346-0808 for
details.
The train is coming. Get ready to get on
board.
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| Noteworthy & Newsworthy Occasions From ORR's
Members |
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On Sunday, December 16 at 4:30 PM in the Ray
of Hope Sanctuary, Urban
Alliance, Inc. will present its Christmas benefit concert
event: "Sharing Love Through Giving" which will benefit the
families of Dunair Elementary School. featuring Christoper
Lewis and Destiny Praise, along with Kevin Lemons and Higher
Calling, Comedian "NATE", David Walker & High Praise. and
Monica Lisa Stevenson, hosted and sponsored by Ray
of Hope Outreach Ministry. For more information, call
770-696-5100. Click here
for flyer.
On December 8, 2007 at 6:30pm the Virtue Dance Ministry of International
Christian Fellowship will pour out a performance of spiritual
healing, of chain-breaking freedom and of purpose. The 14
member dance troupe, founded by ICF's former choir director
include people from many walks of life all of whom are deeply
passionate about the ministry of dance. Tickets are $5 in
advance, $7 at the door. Doors open at 6:30 PM. Contact
Ciatta-Mae Stubblefield, 678-612-7651, or 404-363-3300 for
more information, or visit www.icfministriesatl.org
and www.africanexperience.org.
From December 19 through December 30 True Colors
Theatre Company presents its annual production of The Wiz,
directed by Kenny Leon, choreographed by  Pedro Harris and with musical direction
by J. Michael. Featuring an all-youth cast, Frank Baum's
classic Wizard of Oz gets a soulful makeover in this hip,
funky, multicultural musical based on the William F. Brown
book with lyrics and music by Charlie Smalls.
Tickets
are available online at www.truecolorstheatrecompany.com
. Groups of 10 or more should call 404-588-0308, ext. 201.
Groups of 25 or more receive one pair of complimentary tickets
with each paid order.
On Saturday, December 22 and Sunday December 23, Hillside
Chapel and Truth Center's Youth of Truth Ministry presents
its free Holiday Youth Summit. Saturday at 7 PM will kick off
"Be Ye Transformed", as talented youth fellowship through
spoken word, special guests, dance, and much more. Sunday at
10 AM service the special guest will be Mr. Fonzworth Bentley,
entertainer, hip-hop artist and the author of "Advance Your
Swagger". Roundtable discussion and book signing immediately
after the service.
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| Are you an ORR member yet? |
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Board the Overground RR!!© and find out how you can
practice "KTAA" Kitchen Table Affirmative Action
©. Visit online at www.brcatl.com or call our office
today at 404-346-0808 to find out how you can become a
member.
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Providence Missionary Baptist Church Observes World
AIDS Day Dec. 1 |
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We interviewed Dr. Gerald Durley, pastor at
Providence Missionary Baptist Church last week. We asked him
about Providence's observation of World AIDS Day, the Black
church's role in combating the disease, and the historic
mission of Providence MB Church. What follows are his
remarks.
I moved to Atlanta in 1984, where I was a dean at Clark
Atlanta University until 1990. Eventually I was ordained at Ebeneezer
Baptist Church, and from 1990 to 1999 I directed many of
the health programs at Morehouse, dealing with HIV-AIDS, with
hypertension, renal disease, cholesterol and such, always
tying issues of our physical and mental health into larger
ones that touch on our spiritual well-being
December 1 is observed all over the planet as World
AIDS Day, and Providence is part of that. Like hundreds of
other churches around the country this weekend we are
exhibiting two 12 by 12 foot panels of the AIDS
Memorial Quilt, a project of the Names Foundation. The
quilt, which is now more than 20 tons and 22 miles long, was
begun in 1987. It's purpose is to commemorate those who have
died of the disease, and to foster healing, to heighten
awareness and to inspire action in the struggle against HIV
and AIDS.
I got involved early on in 1989 or 1990 when the first
few cases of AIDS began to occur in the African American
community. We did not know what it was, and were as confused
as most people. Many of us thought it was a gay white male
disease, and if it did not impact us negatively in our own
homes and churches we shied away from it.
Now it has become the number one killer in our African
American community, and takes an especially heavy toll among
Black women. It's time for us to be much more assertive in our
efforts to combat this disease.
The African American church can no longer duck its head in
the sand and engage in denial on this matter. I think it's a
misconception that the Black church has been conspicuously
silent. That is not true. We have always been concerned
because we had to engage in counseling and comforting the sick
among our own people in years past.
The church has a vital role to play in promoting awareness
about this disease. We can do a lot of things. To start with,
we must enlighten our people in terms of prevention. We do
understand how this disease is passed on and we've got to talk
about the ways it happens, equipping and encouraging our
people to protect themselves. Secondly we have to show
compassion toward those who are affected and who are infected
by this disease and their families. We have to counsel them
and work with their families.
We've hung up one panel of the quilt in the lobby of the
church, where elementary and high school children will be able
to go in one door, pass it, and go out the other door, and
receive information that will make them think about what this
means to their lives and communities.
Another panel of the quilt is in the sanctuary, and at our
altar call this week we will turn and face the quilt, reciting
the names of some of those who have passed on, acknowledging
them and their families and praying for them.
Finally, through the Deaconess Board here at Providence, I
understand we are going to start our own quilt right here,
uplifting the memory of some of those we know in this very
community affected by AIDS, and hopefully inspiring others to
take action.
Providence has been around for 136 years now, and I have
been blessed to be here almost 20 years. Providence has
carried out an historic mission in challenging the inequities
that face our people, in the areas of education and housing.
We have an active prisons ministry. Until not long ago, we
were located in the heart of the Atlanta University Center
community. During the heydays of the student movement, many of
the young people would spend the night in the safety of the
church.
Although Atlanta, just like every other city, is being
gentrified, we believe that God has called us to remain right
here in the city's urban core. We want to do this not just to
service the needs of those of our people who have remained
here all along, but for the sake of newcomers and those who
are returning too. We are optimistic about the future of the
city. This is the place to be. Transportation, sports, night
life, entertainment, education and all sorts of infrastructure
will experience growth right here in the cities.
The BRC and the Overground Railroad have been a presence
here in Atlanta for a few years now. What they've done is help
to galvanize the business community and act as a sort of
Better Business Bureau. I've seen the ORR look at the
strengths and weaknesses of businesses and engage in problem
solving, helping them to grow. By the businesses growing they
can better partner with us, with the African American church.
This is critically important because the church has always
been a central repository of our people's wealth.
We must understand that money ought to circulate inside our
community several times in our community before it passes out.
This is no where near what happens presently. If we can just
begin to make sure the churches do their job in that respect,
with their electrical and plumbing contractors, their paper
products, janitorial supplies and books it would take us a
long way toward making this a better community and a better
world in which to raise our children and care for our elders.
That's always been the message of the ORR and it's our
charge at Providence too. We take it very seriously.
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