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ACROSS THE
BOARD
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Black
Leadership Round Table Linking Opportunities with Needs
By
Blaine Miller
When
Sheila Stix, chairman of the Black Leadership Roundtable, talks
about improving the quality of life for African-Americans in the
St. Louis metropolitan region, she means through community building.
“Everything comes out of our value statement—self-determination
through concerted action,” Stix says. “Working together, staying
together, building a vision together, and then carrying it out
together—drawing others in who then become a part of who’s doing
it together, that’s how communities are built.”
| Seated,
left to right: Charles R. Saulsberry, Frankie M.
Freeman, Percy Green II, Sheila Stix, Eddie G. Davis,
Valerie D. Bell, Ina Boon Standing, left to right:
Rev. Earl E. Nance, Jr., Richard K. Gaines, Ronald
L. Jackson, Lottie H. Wade, Col. William H. Young,
Khatib Waheed, Hattie R. Jackson, Dr. Will Ross,
Dr. John L. Mason, Debra H. Moore, Ron Himes, Reginald
D. Dickson, M. Darnetta Clickscale, James H. Buford
Not Pictured: Freeman R. Bosley, Jr., Ronnie L.
Bryant, Charmaine Chapman, Rev. James DeClue, Howard
Denson, Rev. Willie J. Ellis, Sherman George, Dr.
Henry Givens, Jr., Hon. Clarence Harmon, Dr. Charlene
Lofton Jones, Betty Jean Kerr, Andrew McKenzie,
John Moten, Jr., Dr. Everette E. Nance, Hon. Debra
Powell, Robert A. Powell, Rev. B.T. Rice, Steven
C. Roberts, Dr. Marilyn Robinson, Ronald D. Smith,
Ruth B. Smith, Wayman F. Smith, III, Charles A.
Stewart, Jr., Dr. Donald L. Suggs, Anthony Thompson,
Dr. James H. Whittco, Jane E. Woods-Miller |
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And that’s how the Black Leadership Roundtable defines its mission:
to bring about effective change based on a focused agenda through
dialogue, catalytic partnerships and direct action. Begun in 1989
as a dialogue group at the Urban League, the members of the Roundtable
quickly decided among themselves that they needed to take a more
active posture in the community. This activity resulted in the
successful advocacy for hiring an African-American to head the
Regional Hospital as early as 1990. As Stix says, “When you look
down the list of our members, in almost every case, if they get
interested in something, they can bring the resources of other
organizations with them, because they are in a position of responsibility
for those organizations and they know what those organizations
can commit.”
The St. Louis Black Leadership Roundtable attracts some of the
best and brightest people in the metropolitan area. “Our 51 members
are the acknowledged leaders of the St. Louis community who have
significant responsibility and a proven track record for improving
the lives of African-Americans,” Stix says. A nominating committee
chooses the members and once on the Roundtable, they serve three-year
renewable terms. From the former mayor of St. Louis, Freeman R.
Bosley, Jr., to the current mayor, the honorable Clarence Harmon;
from theatre company heads to academic and business leaders, the
Roundtable gathers input from all walks of life and empowers its
members to take meaningful action.
The St. Louis Black Leadership Roundtable attracts some of the
best and brightest people in the metropolitan area. “Our 51 members
are the acknowledged leaders of the St. Louis community who have
significant responsibility and a proven track record for improving
the lives of African-Americans,” Stix says. A nominating committee
chooses the members and once on the Roundtable, they serve three-year
renewable terms. From the former mayor of St. Louis, Freeman R.
Bosley, Jr., to the current mayor, the honorable Clarence Harmon;
from theatre company heads to academic and business leaders, the
Roundtable gathers input from all walks of life and empowers its
members to take meaningful action.
* making economic gains
* increasing community awareness
* encouraging high academic achievement for African-American students
* making health care available to more low-income families
* developing neighborhood capacity in designated sustainable neighborhoods
* increasing voter awareness and registration
* providing shadowing, mentoring and internships for African-American
young people.
“There is much to do,” Stix says, “and we invite the community
to join us in this work that will benefit us all.”
Benefiting everyone is a major focus of the St. Louis Black Leadership
Roundtable. “The African-American community is an under-utilized
resource for the region, but one that has the potential to generate
unprecedented growth for everyone,” says Charles R. Saulsberry,
past chair of the Roundtable’s Economic Development Committee.
In the Roundtable’s position paper on economic development, Saulsberry’s
committee states, “The integration of African-Americans into the
economic agenda will enable the region to develop into a more
sustained and vital economic center of the United States.”
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FAST
FACTS
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• Established
in 1989 as a dialogue group, it quickly evolved into the
St. Louis Black Leadership Roundtable with a more active
posture in the community.
• Advocacy by the Rountable and organizational support led
to the selection of the first African American police and
fire chiefs in St. Louis.
• Partnership with the St. Louis Public Schools has led
to increased enrollment of children in the MC+ medical insurance
program.
• The Roundtable is a continuing participant in annual lobbying
of the regional Congressional delegation in Washington,
D.C., in partnership with a team including St. Louis 2004,
the RCGA and the region’s chief elected officials
• Commissioned the Martin Luther King, Jr. statue for the
Black World Wax Museum. |
This collaborative effort—linking needs and resources to opportunities—is
the St. Louis Black Leadership Roundtable’s vision for the future.
“We’re taking an even more proactive posture,” Stix says. “A lot
of times people will say, ‘What do you think is important? What
do you want to get done?’ They welcome a group of people like
ourselves who are able to say, ‘THIS is what needs to be done.’
And they join us.”
An example of this process of ongoing strategic relationships
was the realization that the Black World Wax Museum did not have
a statue of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. “And Dr. King’s day
was coming up,” Stix relates, “so we raised the money, commissioned
the statue and were able to dedicate a wonderful, life-sized wax
representation of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on his honorary
day. And it was a community celebration.”
The St. Louis Black Leadership Roundtable expects to be a part
of many more community celebrations. Stix says, “We’re taking
an even more proactive posture, setting an agenda that involves
everyone.”
Blaine Miller is a St. Louis-based free-lance writer.
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