Houston Business Connections Newspaper©: Charlene Ward Johnson

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Thursday, July 4, 2024

The Black Leadership at HCC is a Prime Example of how Blacks Aren’t Always the Best Advocates for Black People

Margaret Ford Fisher, Ed.D. (left), is the new chancellor of the Houston Community College System. Dr. Cynthia Lenton-Gary (top second from right) is the District VII Board Trustee and chairman. Laolu Davies-Yemitan (top right) is the District IV Trustee and chairman. Charlene Ward Johnson (bottom second from right) is the District II trustee. Dr. Pretta VanDible Stallworth (right) is the District IX Trustee. WHAT GOOD ARE THEY? How does it benefit Black people to have a Black chancellor and four Black board members at HCC, but the current and former African American HCC employees who were discriminated against still haven't received the justice they deserve? You can "CLICK HERE" to learn more about the $100 million "RACIAL DISCRIMINATION LAWSUIT" filed against HCC by Attorney Benjamin L. Hall, III, the former Houston City Attorney under Mayor Bob Lanier.

According to this $100 million lawsuit, when Dr. Cesar Maldonado was approved as the new Chancellor of HCC in 2014, he came armed with a racially discriminatory agenda. The lawsuit details how Chancellor Maldonado 'allegedly' used his position to adopt a "transformation" plan for (HCC) Houston Community College, which disproportionately impacted Black employees and Black employment and advancement and/or hire at the college. You can (CLICK HERE) and read the lawsuit for yourself.

AUBREY R. TAYLOR: "The Black community is being destroyed from within, in many regards. We must discontinue the process of blindly supporting people because of the hue of their skin. In some cases, Black people are the worst protectors of the interests of the Black community."

The Black Leadership at HCC is a Prime Example of how Black People Aren’t Always the Best Advocates for African Americans

AUBREY R. TAYLOR REPORTS©

Last month in June, we paused to celebrate “JUNETEENTH,” National Independence Day for African Americans, a federal holiday in the United States. Juneteenth is celebrated annually on June 19 and commemorates the ending of slavery in America.

Today, July 4, 2024, we’re pausing to celebrate the Fourth of July, National Independence Day for America. Freedom will be on countless Americans’ minds today as we enjoy a day off with families and friends. However, the freedoms we’re celebrating today may not be celebrated for long if we don’t change how we play the political game as we advance.

How free are we? There’s nothing wrong with celebrating the fact that we’re free. But the freedoms we enjoy today are one wrong political decision away from extinction if you ask me.

If we, and when I talk about we, I’m talking about African Americans. If we Black folks don’t change the way we’re forming political alliances, we are going to find ourselves in a position where our “POLITICAL POWER” is going to be lost forever.

Political power should harnessed and mobilized to be effective. All politics is local, and with these open borders and the shifting demographic landscape, African Americans are continuing to get the short end of every stick imaginable.

Thinking about Juneteenth causes me to wonder out loud if putting people who look like us in powerful positions is working for us.

To better understand what I’m talking about, you have to look at what’s playing out with the shift in leadership at Houston Community College (HCC) and its Board of members.

What in the hell is going on in the minds of the African Americans positioned in leadership roles at Houston Community College?

I was so proud when Dr. Margaret Ford, Ed.D., began her tenure as Houston Community College’s Interim Chancellor on September 1, 2023. My thinking was that the African-American employees who the former chancellor discriminated against would finally find the justice they deserved.

Today, HCC has a new Black chancellor, and four African Americans serve on the Board of Trustees. Along with the four Black board members, they have an ally in a white Board Trustee Member named Dave Wilson.

Dave Wilson, the white trustee, who also happens to be conservative, seems to have shown interest in settling all of the “RACIAL DISCRIMINATION LAWSUITS” that were filed by more than 150 former black HCC employees a few years ago by high-profile Attorney Ben Hall.

However, despite the sympathetic voices on the HCC Board of Trustees, who appear to be interested in settling the “RACIAL DISCRIMINATION LAWSUITS,” the cases continue to drag on endlessly in the court system.

They are useless if the new chancellor and board members aren’t committed to seeking justice for our people. More specifically, if the new leadership at Houston Community College can’t settle these cases with deserving Black former and existing HCC employees, we may need to look at the current crop of board members and consider a regime change at the college.

With this in mind, we may need to do a heat check and send a questionnaire to every HCC Board Trustee member and the chancellor, asking them to publicly state their official position on the pending litigation regarding the current and former Black (HCC) employees.

We must determine why the “$100 MILLION RACIAL DISCRIMINATION LAWSUIT” has not been settled or resolved. And if some shenanigans are occurring behind the scenes, we must find out who the culprits are.

“THE BACK STORY.”

A $100 million “RACIAL DISCRIMINATION LAWSUIT” was filed in Houston, Texas, on behalf of hundreds of former and present Black employees of Houston Community College (“HCC”). The suit was filed back on Friday, June 19, 2020 – Juneteenth — the anniversary date that enslaved Black people in Texas learned they had been freed from slavery two years earlier by President Abraham Lincoln.

The lawsuit detailed a damning list of allegations about what was going on at Houston Community College under the leadership of Chancellor Cesar Maldonado and the Human Resources Director, Ms. Janet May.

According to the lawsuit, Dr. Cesar Maldonado accepted his position in 2014 with a Hispanic “preferential treatment” agenda. The suit contains an actual email chain created shortly after Maldonado’s appointment stating, “Now we [Hispanics] are going to receive preferential treatment.”

The suit alleges that since Maldonado’s arrival, 90% of the long-time Black professionals at HCC have either been terminated or demoted. In comparison, there was a 50% increase in Hispanic hires and promotions. Shockingly, the suit claims that while 90% of tenured and experienced Black employees were displaced, only 10% of similarly tenured Whites were displaced.

The lawsuit continues with a disturbing list of tactics used by Maldonado and May to get rid of Blacks, such as telling a Black male that a white woman’s word was more truthful than his word, that if a White person complains, believe them, but if a Black person complains doubt them unless corroborated; “padding” Black employee personnel files with false complaints to be used later as pretexts for firing them.

If a Black employee happens to get accused of sexual harassment, believe the complainant—but if a Black person makes the complaint corroborate, using the term “transformation” as a cover for getting rid of Black employees and forcing Black employees to take leaves of absence without cause to later use as grounds to terminate the Black employee.

The named plaintiff in the lawsuit is a 55-year-old Black female, Zelia Brown, who got forced into taking a leave of absence when she complained about missing grant money at the college. She reported to the federal government, and the suit alleges that the grant funds had been misused or taken.

After the federal investigators notified HCC officials they would investigate Ms. Brown’s allegations, she was immediately told not to return to work and to stay on leave of absence.

Her locked grant office is said to have been rummaged through while she was on a leave of absence. Although HCC was said to have later asked to return, Zelia Brown’s return was conditioned on her accepting a false complaint that she had created a hostile work environment and presumably remained silent about the missing grant dollars. She refused to stay quiet and brought the suit.

I’m not sure exactly what’s going on in the minds of the current chancellor and HCC Board Trustee, but justice needs to come to Zelia Brown and her co-workers.

Zelia Brown, represented in her lawsuit by Benjamin L. Hall, III, the former Houston City Attorney under Mayor Bob Lanier and former mayoral candidate, is in good hands.

Hall stated, “Ms. Brown is one of the more recent casualties of what appears to be a modern-day Jim Crow environment at Houston Community College for Black executives.

Attorney Hall also described Zelia Brown as a brave woman who isn’t afraid to speak truth to power. She is brave enough to stand up to power and proclaim the truth.

“CLOSING THOUGHTS.”

We must abandon the notion that Black people are the best folks to represent the interests of the Black Community. What’s happening at HCC is a complete and utter embarrassment. How is it in the best interest of “BLACK PEOPLE” if the folks we elect into leadership positions are cowards or sellouts?

Very soon, we must do a “HEAT CHECK” and determine where each HCC Board member stands on securing justice involving the current and former Black employees.