Presidential Election 2016-Trotwood

Hillary Clinton's Campaign Office is located at 838 East Main Street adjacent to Trotwood Foodtown.
The vacant building space, turned into an office by the organizing staff, held its opening on September 6, 2016, the day after Labor Day. There was a good turn out of the Democratic Party's faithful. Former Dayton Mayor, Rhine McLin, gave a rousing speech of support for Hillary.
Gospel Singer, Shirley Murdock, shared her musical gifts.

Prior to the office opening, volunteers convened in local homes. I began volunteering August 8th phone banking at two Trotwood residences.

The campaign is near its end. Four days are left before the election. I am waiting to be a witness to history, to see Hillary Clinton become the first woman president of the United States. I was a witness to history when President Barack Obama became the first African-American elected and reelected President. I volunteered at the Trotwood Office to elect President Obama.

Volunteering in a major political campaign one becomes connected with others who support the same political candidate. An unanticipated benefit of such endeavors is the opportunity to meet and take pictures with noted politicians and distinguished persons I would not normally come in contact.
During this election, I have had the good fortune to meet and take pictures with Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York City, Georgia Congressman  and Civil Rights Icon, John Lewis, and Anne Holton, the wife of Senator Tim Kaine. I have been inspired by all three. Congressman Lewis reminded us of how sacred the right to vote in a democracy and how he almost died to achieve this right.  You get the opportunity to meet with such wonderful young organizers as Peter Li, Chris Dingus, and Jesse Vogel whom I expect one day will be national leaders.

Sometimes, you get interviewed by the media as I did on Thursday, November 3, 2016,
and your comments and opinions appear in the Dayton Daily News: Wife of Dem VP Nominee visits Trotwood : "Gladys Turner-Finney, 89 (error) said she is a part of the campaign because of what it would mean for women to have the next president be a female, and Holton helps project that message. "Her speech reminds-not only me but everyone here and in my area-the importance of having someone in the White House who supports women's issues; the things that women care about,"

Trotwood Campaign Office

Frederick Marshall Finney Memorial Scholarship

Frederick Marshall Finney Memorial Scholarship was established by Gladys Turner Finney in 2013
to commemorate the 40th anniversary of his graduation from Wright State University with a Master of Science degree in Economics.

The scholarship is awarded annually to a Junior or Senior student in the Department of Economics who demonstrates an interest in applying economic theories and thought to under served populations.

Reflections: "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson- A Story Of Justice And Redemption is the second book our College Hill Peace & Social Justice Ministry has read with members of Harmony Creek Church. The format remained the same as the previous book review, four sessions, alternating between the two congregations. The group was diverse but majority white. Harmony Creek also has a Justice and Witness Ministry.

This is a powerful book. It chronicles the legal defense by Attorney Stevenson and the Equal Justice Initiative of  cases of African-Americans, the poor and wrongfully condemned caught up in the injustice of the US prison system. Their cases are heart wrenching. Several times, I had to lay the book aside because I could not read through the tears.  The book brought forth memories from the past. My family lived near Cummins State Prison in Arkansas. As a child I heard my parents speak of "convicts going missing" in the prison. When we drove pass, we saw "trustees" guarding the prisoners as they worked the fields. Once, men from our baptist church went to play softball with the prisoners. When my mother disciplined me, she often referred to "Cummins" as a means of deterrent. I learned to fear the prison as a consequence of poor choices and parental disobedience.

My opposition to the death penalty or capital punishment is on religious grounds, the commandment that thou shall not kill. My first exposure to the death penalty came shortly after I graduated from high school in the summer of 1953. It was the Julius and Ethel Rosenberg espionage case. I followed the events leading up to the execution in the newspaper and on television. I was very sad when they were put to death.

Michelle Alexander powerfully enlightening book, The New Jim Crow helps us understand the institutional processes of enslaving  African-American males through mass incarceration. In the new Jim Crow there are more African-Americans today under correctional control ( in prison or jail, on probation or parole) than were enslaved in 1850, a decade prior to the Civil War due to disparities in drug law enforcement and mass incarceration.  In the new Jim Crow of today disenfranchisement laws disenfranchise more African-American males than in 1870 when the 15th Amendment was ratified.

Stevenson's Just Mercy adds flesh and blood, soul and death. No one can read Just Mercy and still be for the death penalty.

Stevenson says: "I do what I do because I'm broken too... You can't effectively fight abusive power, poverty, inequality, illness, oppression, or injustice and not be broken by it." To be broken, in my opinion, is a metaphor, for sacrifice of one's life for the salvation of others.

Brian Stevenson was the 2015 Dayton Literary Peace Prize non fiction winner for Just Mercy.

copyright (c)

Gladys Turner Finney Social Work Scholarship-Wright State University Recipients

                   
                                    Preparing Social Work Scholars for the future


Condalisa Smith        March 22, 2001
                               
Mary David               March 2002

Rita Mack                  March 27, 2003

Raquel Gregory          March 2004

Pamela Byrd               March 12, 2005

Michanne Davis          March 2006

Shantae West               March 2007

Kamesha Johnson        March 2008
                                                                                    
Christopher Benjamin  March 9, 2009

Dyemekka Wilborn       March 22, 2010

Korine Starkey              March 10, 2011

Tonya Barnes                March 26, 2012

Regina West                   March 28, 2013
                                                                                                  
Danielle Jackson            2013-2014

Gwendolyn Reynolds      2014-2015                                               

NaQasia Lewis               2015-2016 

Sandra Wiley                  2016-2017 

Ty McHardy                    2017-2018 

MacKenzie Lane             2018-2019

Kayla Lee                        2019-2020

Pam Baugham                 2019-2020              

Call to the Land of Promise by Frederick M. Finney

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dayton, Ohio

NEW BOOK: CALL TO THE LAND OF PROMISE
by Frederick M. Finney
Introduction by Gladys Turner Finney
Challenge Press
Publication Date February 9,2016
Pages 116
ISBN 13978-1523254309
ISBN 10:1523254300
Library of Congress Control Number:
2016932205
Price $10.99
Available through bookstores and amazon.com

Imagine migrating to Dayton, Ohio as an African-American at the turn of the 20th century to the great promise of opportunity beckoning you to the North. Instead you find a "northern city with a southern exposure." De facto segregation is persistent over time. Finney presents a historical view of African-American migration and importance of Dayton as a "factory town." Finney traces early black protests, community and political leaders and ultimately the advent of the Dayton Model Cities Program with empowering the black community to participate in the governmental and economic structures of the larger Dayton community.

In the 1970's Dayton became part of the federal "Model Cities Program," a feature of President Lyndon Johnson's "War on Poverty." Dayton Model Cities Program was successful in creating a system of citizen participation in the black community of West Dayton to identify and address community needs, Frederick M. Finney served as Program Evaluation Director for the Dayton Model Cities Program. It is through his recollections and insight we encounter a previously untold part of Dayton's history.

Finney died in 2008. His manuscript and notes were organized by Gladys Turner Finney, his wife, under the title, Call to the Land of Promise.


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Upcoming Events
Book Review Presentation (Public Invited)
March 13, 2016
College Hill Presbyterian Church USA
1547 Philadelphia Drive
12:00-1:15
Panelists:
Stan Hirtle, Moderator
Dr. Jana Adams
Rev. Dr. Charles Williams
Gladys Turner Finney

Call to the Land of Promise also available:
Dayton History Museum Gift Shop
1000 Carillon Blvd.
Dayton, Ohio 45409

 March 17-24, 2016-Dayton Weekly News:
"New Literary Work Chronicles Dayton's History"
 By Brenda Cochran

March 20, 2016: 3:00 P. M.   Dayton Section National Council Negro Women

Call to the Land of Promise Book Review, held on March 13th at College Hill Church, will air: Easter Sunday on DATV, Channel 6 at 4:00 P.M.
March 29, 2016, 2:00 P.M.
March 31, 2016, 3:30 P.M.
April   02, 2016, 7:30 P.M

April 21, 2016: Maria Joseph Living Care Center, 5:00 P.M -9:00 P.M.

Book Review by Robert Harris, April 2016 AGGMV Newsletter

(c) copyright 2016

Alejandro Canales "Mujer con Sacuanjoche," Woman with Flower

Among the many and varied items donated for the Silent Auction fundraiser for our church's annual Christmas Bazaar was a watercolor painting which caught my eye. Waiting for the last day to bid, and seeing none, I entered the minimum bid, and thus became its new owner.

Inside the  bright orange manila folder with the painting were a  June 11, 1991 Los Angeles Times article, by Kevin Baxter, copies of pages from Art and Revolution in Latin America by David Craven,  a copy of LUCY LACS 20 "About Nicaraguan: The Revolutionary Murals of Nicaragua, and a letter from the donor.

  The donor wrote:
 "This is an original watercolor painting by famed Nicaraguan artist Alejandro Canales. He was            arguably one of the most important and celebrated muralists in Nicaraguan history. He died in
1990, and shortly thereafter, the right wing mayor of Managua initiated a campaign to "erase"             his and other murals across the city.
     
 I purchased this piece at an art show (in New York) to raise funds for humanitarian relief for              Central America in 1990. I have enjoyed this painting for 25 years and am now ready to share          it and its history with someone else who will appreciate it."
 Blessings,
 MM

The painting is identified as "Mujer con Succanoche." on the back. I asked my friend, Jose' to translate, and I was surprised to learn that there was no word "Succanoche" in the Spanish Dictionary. Eager to learn more about the artist, I turned to the internet. There was no Wikipedia biography on Canales. I was curious about Canales' early death and if any US museums/universities held special collections of his art.

The internet revealed that the OMCA (Okland Museum of California Art) held a painting by the artist. I contacted the Museum and left a message. A museum worker, Julian returned the call.
He informed me that OMCA had one painting by Alejandro Canales, "The Coffee Picker," painted in 1986, tempera on paper, donated to the Museum in 2010 by the Rossman Family. The painting is not on display.

Later, I shared my translation dilemma with someone who was visiting me. He e-mailed me with the
following information: "My stepdaughter looked at the Nicaraguan Spanish that I copied from the art work you showed me. She said she thinks the last word, "Succanoche," is actually a misspelling.of the word "Sacuanjoche, which is the word for plumeria, the national Nicaraguan flower... The translation for the whole title "Mujer con Sacuanjoche" would be "Woman with Plumeria."
I think she is right based on the fact that there is a flower in the image  My art piece shows the head of woman with a yellow flower with five petals in a vibrant yellow color. It is a perfect match with the image of the Nicaraguan national flower. It is a watercolor on white paper.

 Canales was born in 1945 and died in 1990. At age 12, he was apprenticed to a carpenter, but continued to draw and paint on his own. His formal art training was at the National Fine Arts School where he studied drawing, painting and sculpture from 1961 until 1970.

(c) copyright 2016