July 17, 2014

Omar Bah: Rhode Island is heaven

Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387

I wandered tonight by accident into a lecture at the Rochambeau Library in Providence that offered a unique vision on life here in Rhode Island. While a poll conducted in April indicated that Rhode Islanders are the “least proud” of their state and pundits have written endlessly about why that should be the case, highlighting all the things that make Rhode Island a supposedly terrible place, Gambian journalist Omar Bah has a different view.

Rhode Island, says Bah, is heaven.

“Life in Gambia was hell,” said Bah to the too few people who came out to his lecture, where he was talking about his book, Africa’s Hell on Earth, “I lived in a country where people were treated as second class. No rights, no freedom of expression, for the first twenty-six years of my life.”

Bah’s book is his message. It is also a celebration of freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, rights denied him in his home country of Gambia. Bah started as a young journalist, writing about the corruption and brutality of the regime of Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, a totalitarian despot who once said that he had allowed “too much expression” in the country.

While people starve, Gambia’s president drives in a fleet of cars valued at $300,000, according to Bah. There is one television station allowed in the entire country, a propaganda arm of the government. At a student led protest rally, 14 students were shot dead by the military. Bah once saw a pregnant woman in need of medical attention taken to the hospital by donkey cart, where she and her baby died screaming in the waiting room.

“If you are hungry, you die hungry,” says Bah. “If you are sick, you die sick. If you are hopeless, you die without hope.”

Growing up, Bah saw education as his best chance at a good life, but also realized that when you don’t live in a just society, you have to take action, however you can. Bah chose to write about what he saw, becoming a journalist. Reporting on the evils of a despotic dictatorship is dangerous. Bah was arrested several times, and even tortured while imprisoned. Eventually events reached the point where Bah had no choice but to flee the country.

Stopped on a bus at the border of Senegal, Bah was identified by a soldier and had a gun pointed directly at him. His life was effectively over, his future one of prison, torture and probable death, but the soldier was a classmate of Bah’s from over a decade previous. On that bus, soldier and journalist recognized each other and the soldier, in a dangerous breach of orders, let Bah cross the border to freedom. Bah began his new life as a refugee even as his wife, Teddi Jallow, was threatened and harassed by the dictator’s police back home.

Granted refugee status by the United States government, Bah came to Rhode Island. “I came from the smallest country in Africa to the smallest state in America,” said Bah, “I am living the American dream because of the opportunities I have here.”

Today, seven years after arriving in Rhode Island, Omar Bah lives with his wife and his mother, who have also been granted refugee status and has two sons, both born in this country. He still agitates for human rights in Gambia and the rest of the world. He does so even though it puts his extended family at some risk. When the president of Gambia came to New York for a visit to the United Nations, Bah lead a protest outside the dictator’s hotel. Bah’s family was threatened for his actions.

Bah will not be silenced by threats. “Educating one person is enough. Any act of revolution starts with one person.”

July 17, 2014July 21, 2014

Rep. Palumbo version of sympathy for immigrant children

Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387

In a letter to Governor Chafee, Rep. Peter Palumbo (D-Cranston) reports that he has “nothing but sympathy” for the immigrant children flooding our southern border. He apparently means that quite literally. And his sympathy extends only as far as telling his press liaison to type those words for him in a letter he, ahem, wrote to the governor. The children in question are apparently worth zero expense or effort beyond that, in his eyes.

So what, exactly, is his sympathy worth? And why does he bother to express it this way? The truth is that Rep. Palumbo appears to have a heart of stone, like so many of the protesters who have gathered this week to shout angry words at children fleeing violence in their home countries. (And, in one case, at a bunch of children on a bus taking them to a YMCA summer camp, but hey it was just an oversight.) Palumbo, however, wants to pretend otherwise by covering it up with pretty words. But pretty words alone never took care of a child, not one from Honduras, nor one from Cranston. When accompanied by tender care, pretty words can be a lovely thing, but when accompanied by a cold shoulder, they are just embarrassing.

I am, from time to time, impatient with people who imagine that there is no financial justification for good public policy. Care for the poor and disabled, attention to the youngest and most vulnerable children, being good stewards of the environment, cleaning up toxins, don’t have to be justified by weepy appeals to heartstrings. These are, more often than not, policies that easily cost less than the results of ignoring them.

But pointing out that a policy is not just the right thing to do, but also saves money, is a far cry from thinking that saving money is the only possible justification for public policy. There are times when the right thing to do costs money. That doesn’t mean it is not the right thing to do.

For a variety of reasons, a humanitarian crisis is in full swing on our southern border. It is not clear to me exactly what the cause is for the dramatic increase in unaccompanied children coming across the border, and it seems not really clear to anyone at this point. But it is clear to me that denying the existence of the crisis and denying that our nation — and our state — has the capacity to aid those children, is heartless and cruel. We are still among the richest countries on the planet. We are not talking here about deploying troops or air strikes or our navy. We are talking about feeding and housing children who seem to need that kind of help and are already here among us. If we can’t do that, then what kind of country are we?

Rep Palumbo’s letter is here.

July 17, 2014July 18, 2014

Olon Reeder’s Fix for the State’s Ailing Economy

Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387

Olon Reeder, a slight-figured, unassuming, behind-the-scenes kinda guy, has been quietly improving the quality of life in northern Rhode Island for decades as a public affair adviser for the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council.

With his years of working in the public sector, as legislative assistant with the Rhode Island General Assembly in the mid-to-late 1970s, with the Garrahy administration, state agencies and with small businesses, he’s authored a nontraditional economic development policy paper he hopes will be considered in next year’s Rhode Island General Assembly debate as to how to create a more vibrant business environment in the Ocean State.

Over the years, Reeder, President of Reeder Associates, a Southern New England-based public relations and multi-media communications company, has seen state lawmakers and its economic development agency attempt to compete with surrounding states, just going after “larger, trendy, projects to turn the economy around. “Smaller companies would always get the short end of the stick, because they were not seen as a viable economic generator,” he says, stressing that this perception is inaccurate.

In recent years economic development solutions to fix the state’s ailing economy have been floated for public debate by lawmakers, economic development professionals or by large corporations. Today, Reeder, with almost 40 years of in the public and private sectors, calls on state lawmakers to consider his proposal when they focus on economic reform in next year’s session. More needs to be done, says the small businessperson who is a Native Rhode islander.

It’s almost like Mr. Reeder goes to Smith Hill, to take on the establishment to be heard.

“We are at a critical crossroads where we must overcome our negatives attitudes and start taking actions ourselves if we all want our state and our lives to become successful,” Reeder wrote in a recently-released policy statement detailing his suggested economic development action agenda, as how to improve the state’s long term quality of life, through investing in people, communities and small businesses.

He calls for tying lifelong education to grow the economy. “Brain power is a key element driving worldwide demands and economic activity today, through the convergence of non stop knowledge, creative economy, enterprise and innovation, art-design connections, which all start with lifelong learning,” he says.

He says personal empowerment creates the environment for change “Empowerment encourages, and develops the skills for, self-sufficiency, giving people the abilities and knowledge that will allow them to overcome obstacles in life or work environment and ultimately, help them develop within themselves or in the society,” he says.

Companies are constantly replacing full-time employees, he said, and now relying upon independent contractors, where people who once counted on a steady pay check are now being left to fend for themselves in a hyper-competitive self employed market. These individuals are oftentimes forgotten by policy makers.

Based on 2011 figures from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, in Rhode Island, there re over 73 thousand self employed contributing over $3 billion annually to the state’s economy. Most self employed are hired out of necessity, are done so locally and through word of mouth. Because freelancers depend so much on self promotion to get their jobs, they must focus on the local markets, along with showcasing their diverse personal talents, marketing their skills to business owners in their community, along trying to compete with others for opportunities.

Reeder recognizes the importance of valuing our places, spaces and communities, to grow business. “More than ever, people must be connected to where we live, work, play, stay and travel. People expect places and spaces they interact with daily to be vibrant, active, socially appealing, culturally stimulating and help them in improving their quality of life, especially with their physical and mental health,” he says.

Reeder notes active living communities provide opportunities for people of all ages and abilities to engage in routine daily physical activity, he says, like pedestrian and bicycle friendly design, access to intermodal transportation, mixed use development, ample recreation, walkable neighborhoods, access to fresh and healthy foods and commerce centers. This philosophy must be included in any state economic development plan.

“Our economic revitalization is relevant to healthy and sustainable communities because active living communities encourage individuals to be more physically active, improving health by lowering citizens’ risk for health conditions, adds Reeder. “Active living communities create enhance quality of life, attract business and knowledge workers, and contribute to ongoing economic development,” he says.

Reeder stresses that technology is a must, as people are now “required” to have 24/7 365 access to the Internet and must now communicate through social media to live, work, and transact personal activity, he calls for providing everyone with free online access “as a necessity of our 21st century lifestyles.”

Finally, Reeder thinks “Demand Driven Experiences” are necessary for not only reinventing our state’s manufacturing, but in changing our self attitudes about how Rhode Islanders see themselves, ultimately affecting expectations others may have about the perception of Rhode Island as the worst place for business.

“Because people no longer buy things for their personal benefit, they want enhancements to fulfill missing elements of their lives,” adds Reeder, noting that experiences are crucial for businesses and locations as a branding and marketing tool, especially with efforts in Rhode Island attracting people to live and travel here for our entertainment, food and lifestyles.”

“Using our experiences to effectively promote market and give an iconic brand, we must also stay true to the “real Rhode Island,” to our proud independent and working class heritage, the ethnic and cultural diversity in our state, and preserving our unique natural resources,” he says.

State lawmakers are moving in the right direction to make Rhode Island a more business-friendly place to operate. Reeder continues his efforts to get his voice heard by General Assembly leadership, state policy makers, business groups, even gubernatorial candidates. Hopefully, they will choose to closely listen to Reeder’s nontraditional approach to economic development and to small business owners who know their specific needs to operate successfully.