Column by Ken Hamilton — If showing up is half the battle, then correct me if I am wrong; but shouldn’t at least one of Niagara Falls’ elected officials have been at the recent Western New York Regional Economic Council meeting at Niagara County Community College discussing what areas within Niagara County should be funded as part of the project?

The county people were there, including Sen. George Maziarz, Assemblyman John Ceretto, Mayor Mike Tucker from Lockport and a host of others. Listen, even Ron Anderluh was there, along with Dan Davis, Mary Ann Rolland, Murray DeFranco and other private citizens that are concerned about economic development in the city. My goodness, even Willie Dunn and Kevin Cottrell were in the audience!

I know this, because even I was there. The question is: “Where were you on the night of ...”

Now you know why the nights are always longer in this city.

Brightening the gray areas between black and white

In response to a previous week’s column, a young black man wrote a well-written letter to the editor of this newspaper and chastised me for writing too much about race. In the same week, I received a communications from an older white man who complained that not enough is being said about the conditions of our city being caused noticeably by blacks. Given that the two totally unrelated letters came in nearly at the same time, I think that I have done what it is that I am supposed to do.

There is nothing wrong with open dialogue on race. We have President Obama instead of President “Hillary” because America openly spoke on race in the voting booths. Who would have ever thought that a bunch of corn farmers in Iowa would have led the way to history?

It is open dialogue that is the balm that cures differences. We, as a whole, don’t need less of it; we need more of that open and honest dialogue on this issue that has plagues America more so than any industrial nation in the world.

I commend the young man for boldly expressing his opinion, whether he agrees with me or not. More often than not, I write provocative columns for the purposes of provoking readers to both thought and action and I would like to see more from both him and you.

But remember, long before the young man was born, I was the only black person aboard the USS England, steaming in the Tonkin Gulf off the coast of North Vietnam, who consistently participated in the chaplain’s Race Awareness Program sessions. When I returned home to Niagara Falls, I headed up the local chapter of the NAACP, in addition to being a Human Rights Commissioner. Furthermore, I served on both the county legislature’s and NCCC’s minority advisor councils, where the young man studied criminal justice.   

I was a member of the Black Social Workers here in Niagara Falls, as well as a member of the Niagara Association of Black School Educators. And there is more: as a member of the Niagara Council of the Arts, when the council defunded the African-American Experience in 1983, who do you think put on the biggest and best one we ever had. And I had help all of the way, including that of my now deceased friend Nate Smith.

There is much, much more to do; and it ain’t all about race. I headed my division’s Combined Federal Campaign, the predecessor to the United Way, and my division was the command’s highest producer. I served on the Alzheimer’s board of directors, the Niagara Falls Youth Board, and the Niagara Falls Centennial Committee Steering Committee. And yes, I was the only black person on that group too; and I am proud to say that it was I who brought the kite festival to the city that attracted flyers from all over the world.

The aforementioned boards and communities are only some of my experiences; and I really believe that I should share more of them with you — even at the risk of some people saying that I am bragging and others, like social studies teacher Frank Soda, calling me Forrest Gump.

But, despite all that I have done in their depth and breadth, there is still much, much more to do. One caller to WBEN’s Beach and Company mis-declared that Niagara Falls is mostly black; I had to correct him so that he understood that we are only one of five citizens here.

But when you look at the numbers of home owners in the city, versus the number of people in the criminal justice system, it paints a dark, dark picture for African-Americans. When we look at our high school graduation rate, we find that in some categories, most kindergartners won’t make it.   

While the schools may graduate students who can’t read, history won’t allow us to move forward unless we fully understand it. That’s why, as vice-president and president of the Niagara Falls Public Library, I worked hard to keep those facilities open so that we can read, learn and move past the past into the bright future where neither the young writer’s nor my racially provocative columns won’t be necessary.

And isn’t that where we all want to be?

But it takes participation for that to happen; especially the kind of participation that Maziarz, Ceretto, Tucker, Anderluh, Davis, Rolland, DeFranco, Dunn, Cottrell and I do — and we catch hell!

Ken Hamilton is a Niagara Falls resident. Contact him at kenhamilton930@aol.com.