By Staff
How do you feel African Americans have impacted the arts?
Wow! I’ve never been asked that question. Let me think, I believe that black people are naturally the most gifted human beings on the planet. We sing. We dance. We create. We are the rhythm this universe feeds off “LITERALLY”, you see there is no other group born with a raw talent that is beyond measure. While many try to imitate and infiltrate none can duplicate. Everyone wants to dress like us, sing like us, dance like us, BE us… We dictate the “COOL’ around the world, WE control the trends of what’s hot and hip. We are the rhythm nation!
What inspired you to become an entrepreneur?
I successfully worked in the hospitality industry for close to 20 years at the same hotel. Then came 911 and everything changed- the bottom fell out of the industry and the top executives were the first to go. I went from 15 years at the same property to three different properties within a little over a year. Right around the same time I was going through a divorce with three small sons. Everything just started to fall apart at the same time.
My last boss on my last day (who didn’t look like me) handed me an envelope with severance pay, which I didn’t expect because I really hadn’t been there long enough. He walked up, looked me dead in the eyes and said, I doubled the usual amount in hopes that this will be your last “job”: YOU ARE THE BRAND CATRENA and people will pay good money for what you bring to the table…
You see when God is ready to move you to another plateau and you’re determined to stay complacent he will make you very uncomfortable. Things that used to come easy become a struggle, doors that usually open close and lock. You are no longer comfortable in environments you may have been in for decades because he no longer wants you there; it’s time for you to move on to the next assignment and sometimes he must force us out of our comfort zones to get us there. I realized GOD’S plan in that moment…I took his advice and never looked back!
Tell us about your company and services.
I have a non-profit, Salute Selma Incorporated was designed to take the lessons learned thru the lenses of the Civil Rights Movement and apply these solutions to everyday business practices. This includes getting out the vote (GOTV), community outreach, governmental affairs, networking, and outreach events to help raise awareness and increase fundraising and advocacy opportunities.
I also have a for-profit company, Kason Enterprises LLC. that specializes in project management, business development, and crisis communications. We lead strategy for community and partner outreach, while assisting with the planning and execution of client events.
Tell us how critical the 2024 election is for African Americans.
After Trump’s win, in December of 2016, he attended a mostly White victory rally in Hershey, Pa., and taunted “They didn’t come out to vote for Hillary. They didn’t come out. And that was a big — so thank you to the African American community.”
That bit of history sums up what the African American vote means in this country. It gets us back to the question: In whose hands rests the answer to the outcome of next year’s presidential election?
The voters, of course. But as with previous elections, Black voters in important battleground states are a key voting block and essential. We are hearing echoes of the 2016 Clinton disaster. Flagging enthusiasm amid complaints that Democratic standard-bearer Biden, who can’t help it that he’s not Obama, is a bland motivator who has yet to meet all the Black community’s basic needs. Though our feelings are not without basis the reality is we must sometimes vote for the lesser of the evils. Install a Trump White House and say farewell to civil liberties, voting rights, consumer rights and reproductive rights.” And that’s just for starters. He has publicly disclosed that if elected, he would consider weaponizing the federal government against those who would oppose his reign. He’s made it known that he wants to strip career federal employeesof civil service protections, abolish the Education Department and to see moreteachers trained to carry concealed weapons. I would argue that at this point in history it is more important to know the opposing candidate’s agenda than our own- If we take a moment to listen to what he’s proposing we could easily see how dangerous a Donald Trump is: Not only to African Americans but to this nation for decades to come.
Why should African Americans vote?
In my opinion every election is critical if we think broadly. If the majority of African Americans in this country voted in every election; if we voted in masses in every single election over the last 30 years one could only imagine the progress, we could have made by now- there’s a possibility that we could’ve changed the very foundation of this country: Where would we be with Medicare and Medicaid? Would we have had the crack epidemic in our neighborhoods? Could we have prevented the prison pipeline that has led to the mass incarceration and the killing of our black men and boys. Would there be this huge wealth gap if all schools were created equal and adequately funded no matter where they located or who attended? I contend that weather it is 2024 or 1964 we have a responsibility to ourselves, our families, and our ancestors (who died for us) to show up at the polls and participate in the political process to ensure that we have someone at the table representing the needs of our people and ensuring that each and every citizen of these United States have equal opportunities to achieve the American dream. To sum it all up, I read somewhere that “Trump doesn’t need more black votes he just needs black voters to stay home.”
Why do you feel about Affirmative Action no longer available for our institutions?
The Trump appointed ultra conservative right wing Supreme Court is carrying out his mission to “Make America White Again”. Without affirmative action, racial inequities will worsen as more students of color get closed out of the pathways to power and prosperity that higher education brings. Eliminating affirmative action programs will also further aggravate the disconcerting trends toward economic inequality. Today in America, the top 10% of jobs take home nearly half of the income, and the richest 10% of households own more than 70% of the wealth and this Republican lead Senate, along with the Supreme Court is doing everything they can to keep it that way: To uphold white supremacy by any means necessary and we all know that education is a key component to ending poverty and closing the wealth gap. In states that have eliminated affirmative action, studies have consistently found immediate declines in admission and enrollment for black, Latino and indigenous people: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.
Tell us about your role in the “Bloody Sunday” Bridge Crossing Jubilee.
I was born and raised in Selma Alabama. As a teenager, I met the founders of the Bridge Crossing Jubilee and worked within the organization for over three decades from a volunteer to the National Coordinator – eventually becoming the Executive Director of the Selma to Montgomery 50th Anniversary Commemoration Foundation and Executive Producer of Centric/BET’S Docu-concert and SELMA SHEROS documentary. This was one of the largest civil rights events in recent history were then President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama accompanied by their two daughters and former Presidents George W Bush and Bill Clinton along with first lady Laura Bush and then US secretary Hillary Clinton marched hand in hand across the Edmund Pettus Bridge surrounded by thousands of public officials, activists, organizers foot soldiers, celebrities and citizens from around the world to commemorate Bloody Sunday and the 50th Anniversary of the signing of the Voting rights Act of 1965.
Why is this relevant now? The very bill we were celebrating 10 years ago during the 50th has been struck down by this new season of tea party right wing extremist who are systematically dismantling, not only the voting rights act– which they gutted right here in Alabama but have since moved on to strike down Roe versus Wade and Affirmative Action. These are some of the most important bills ever been passed in the history of this country as it relates to protecting the fundamental rights of the most vulnerable: Including a woman’s right to choose.
2016 Is when I started Salute Selma Inc. to continue this work on my own terms, and as we approach 2025 and the upcoming 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, “The Fight continues: The Fight for Liberty, the Fight for Justice, the Fight for True Freedom & Democracy continues, as we March on….”
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