Examiner.com

By geographical identification, Acres Homes is a neighborhood of Houston, Texas, north of the 610 loop, but reality reflects a different scenario. It poses as a city of its own, an endowed locale,  a Garden of Eden, a sodality of more than 8,538 housing units inhabited by a tremendous number of African Americans, while accommodating other populace and according them irrevocable citizenry.

Make no mistake, this is Acres Home, a largely wooded urban/inner-city confraternity that would rather pay allegiance to a self-resurgence of a neighborhood suffused with beautiful pine trees and scattered old-fashioned quality homes than salute the national crest. In fact, African-Americans in this community are so endowed with the highest level of community citizenship loyalty that they would always beat their chests to elect, support,  or uplift their leaders with appropriate reasons, but would always call them out when they are considered ‘sell-outs.’

Fortunately, all politicians in this region understand the factuality of courting Acres Home and would bow down to propose a relationship. For instance, politicians like Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson, Former Mayor Bill White, and other very influential politicians seeking improved ratings with the African-American community understand this concept and had once partnered with the African-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston based in Acres Home to penetrate the fortified walls of baby-boomer-African-American voters.

But something unusual may have happened when Houston’s new mayor Annise Parker had a golden opportunity to attain citizenship in Acres Home last weekend but came out all bruised.

It was at the Crown Plaza, a hotel on 290, the venue for the annual banquet of the African-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston. Mayor Parker, who had confessed a lack of knowledge of other communities enriching the greater Houston diversity, had supposedly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to address a big concentration of the African-American populace along with dignitaries such as State Representative the Honorable Sylvester Turner, Roy Douglas Malonson, the Chamber’s Chair and publisher of African-American News & Issues, the Honorable Congressman Al Green, and Reverend Johnny Tates of Powerhouse Church of God in Christ. Others included influential media and corporate representatives, judges, and community leaders.

So how did Mayor Parker utilize her podium advantage? Barely three months in office, the sharp looking mayor mingled with her minority-hosts, connected well with photo-op sessions and a full course dinner, but came totally unprepared for her keynote errand.

The event theme was Change 2010 and the keynote topic was Yes We Can –a popular phrase that energized President Obama’s campaign in his 2008 quest for his current designation. Mayor Parker, however, mutilated this phrase beyond repair, invoking boring stories about the city’s trash-collection process, using the dedication of trash pick up drivers to exemplify loyalty to public service - A concept seen by few observers as derogatory to the minorities.

In furtherance of an imperfect display of eloquence, Mayor Parker babbled words illustrating “Setting the vision for where the city is going and making sure we steer our ship in the right direction,” but ended up with virtually no information to connect her audience who are largely small business owners and community leaders.

A disappointed guest said, “This is a Chamber of Commerce, not a group of unemployed citizens. We are small business owners and need to know how to do business with the city. We need to know how we can partner with the new administration to help our businesses and our community – not how good we look picking up trash.”

Another guest told International Guardian that the Mayor’s trash-picking lecture was an insult to African-Americans: “How can you have this kind of audience and all you end up talking about is collecting trash?  I guess that’s where we belong, eh?”

A middle-aged guest who identified himself as a friend of Acres Home community saw nothing wrong with the Mayor’s speech, but said, “It wasn’t the best, but I don’t see any other way the speaker could try to encourage love and dedication in serving the city at any level. I really do not get the insult, but the presentation was boring.”

Excited Mayor Parker indicated that trash pick-up drivers tend to stay longer in their jobs than most other city employees, attributing such consistency to love for civil service. Unfortunately, the honorable Mayor failed to realize that lack of adequate training for career advancement, or even high cost of education could boost demand and loyalty to odd jobs. A tear jerking situation where minority college graduate parade grocery and fast food store to seek employment does not characterize loyalty to service, but denotes a failed system to strategically create corporate jobs to dovetail education qualifications.

Acres Homes has been around and deserves every attention when it comes to development and revenue allocation. But with more than 41% of the children in the neighborhood living below the poverty level, according to census figures, and 38% of the adults lacking a high school diploma, community leaders often attach more interests to issues that would grow education and jobs rather than trashy presentations purely inconsequential to community development.

However, the African American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston, led by Roy Douglas Malonson, took the bull by the horns, borrowing its mission from Fredrick Douglass’ quote: “Our destiny is largely in our hands,” while it aggressively tackles the impending economic shortfalls in the area, focusing on ensuring that children receive a quality education, empowering and encouraging self-reliance among the Black business community.

Houston, fourth largest city in the US holds a high rate of diversity – a situation Mayor Parker confessed helped her mayoral candidacy. Virtually, all global nationals are represented in the city, and Mayor Parker may benchmark former Mayor Lee P. Brown in fulfilling the neutrality test in reaching out to all ethnicities. Mayor Brown adopted a kind of assimilation policy where all ethnic groups were represented in the mayoral circle, while he created interpersonal relationships through consistent community town hall meetings and a street presence.

Mayor Parker currently relies on indirect rule, courting key pastors and community leaders as middlemen while she lacks any vital knowledge of the multi-colored realities of her massive city – A competency she must attain to succeed in her new career.