Gov. Mitch Daniels spoke for many in our Indianapolis community when he paid tribute to one of our community’s great lions, Glenn L. Howard, who died July 2 at age 72. The governor’s quote is this column’s headline.
Glenn Howard was a proud product of this African-American community, educated in IPS; a proud Crispus Attucks graduate.
Howard’s legacy and his greatness was that he was part of the generation forged in the crucible of Indy’s civil rights movement who grabbed power and responsibility, leading our Black community into a period of greatness, progress and growth in the last third of the 20th century.
Unlike the Young Turks of today who are more interested in bling and status, Glenn Howard was among the Young Turks of the late 1960s who became the backbone of Black political, religious, business and civic leadership since.
Howard was a voice of that leadership; one heard by many. He could be brash, loud, emotional, but always at the forefront, and he worked to make things better for Black people. Sometimes Howard’s rhetoric would misfire, but most times he knew the feelings of our community, knew the importance of the issue and knew how to articulate it, frame it so the common man and woman could understand.
Howard served 16 years on our City-County Council starting in 1975. That means he was in his late 30s when he joined the council. A little younger than Councilman Vop Osili and Council President Maggie Lewis are today. He was still a young man when he entered the state Senate in 1993.
The white media described Glenn Howard as “colorful”; they’d laugh at his speeches and outbursts. But to our watching Black community, Howard spoke for us – our hopes, dreams, fears, wants and desires.
And he did so much. He was always a fighter for finding jobs for people. He understood that without jobs our Black community would wither and die. That desire to get jobs for our community colored a lot of his actions.
Many of us were surprised when he supported Gov. Daniels’ Toll Road sale proposal in 2005. Many, including me, blasted Howard for that.
But when I asked him about it, he didn’t duck and dodge the issue. He believed the Toll Road deal would mean jobs and economic development for Black people, not just here but especially in Northwest Indiana.
But that was Howard. Unlike many politicians today, he had the courage of his convictions and was willing to stand up for his beliefs.
He did that on those many Saturday mornings on the old “Operation Breadbasket” show on WTLC-FM. He did that in innumerable meetings of the Concerned Clergy that he helped found. He did it when he got together with that bipartisan group of men and women who helped create Indiana Black Expo.
Everytime I’d see Glenn Howard he’d have me laughing and thinking at the same time.
In the late 1970s, after WTLC started the “Morning with the Mayor” program with former Mayor Bill Hudnut, Howard complained to then WTLC owner Dr. Frank Lloyd, GM Al Hobbs and me. “Why do you let people ask those stupid questions of the mayor,” Howard would rage. “Why aren’t they asking the serious questions about the police or jobs?”
Dr. Lloyd, Al and I would tell Howard, “Well maybe fixing a street, collecting the garbage or catching a rat in an alley is the most important thing that a Black caller wants to ask their mayor.”
Howard would shrug. But I’d make sure that the next time the mayor was on, I’d remember to ask some of the tough questions Howard felt needed to be asked.
Glenn Howard was one of those who worked with Rev. Mozel Sanders and the legendary “Bo” Foster in creating the Thanksgiving Day Dinner effort.
Howard loved working the serving line with the volunteers preparing meals. We’d share some gossip and stories on those Thanksgiving mornings. I’ll miss that.
Just as I’ll miss his smile, that trademark voice, his insight and wisdom on a community that’s grown on me.
When Howard took ill, at his family’s request, Glenn’s many friends kept quiet about his illness. That’s the viciousness of Alzheimer’s. It suddenly robs us of a person’s vitality and life.
Like former President Ronald Reagan and others stricken with this particularly insidious disease, Howard, a very public person, moved into the shadows.
These past years our African-American community has solely missed Glenn Howard’s wisdom, knowledge, insight and that voice crying out in this wilderness of recession and intolerance. That’s the bigger tragedy. When we needed him more; we couldn’t have him.
Last summer, the City of Indianapolis grievously insulted Glenn Howard when Mayor Ballard’s administration dedicated that Dr. Martin Luther King Streetscape without any mention of the man who represented that area and pushed for the Dr. King Street designation.
Mayor Ballard also insulted Howard’s memory by issuing no public statement on Howard’s passing. A grievous slight to a man who gave 36 years of his life to public service.
Last weekend I began thinking like Glenn Howard and came up with a possible fitting memorial to him.
City-County Council President Maggie Lewis and the Democratic majority (and those Republicans who want to join in) should introduce an ordinance to make one of Glenn Howard’s dreams finally come true.
Former Mayor Bart Peterson wimped out when he failed to push for the naming of MLK Street up to 96th Street. It’s time the council ends that injustice and names all of Michigan Road from 38th to 96th after Dr. Martin Luther King.
And I’m sure our self-proclaimed greatest mayor Blacks in Indy have ever had won’t dare veto it.
To Glenn Howard’s family, thank you for sharing him with our community. And God bless you for the care you took of him these last few difficult years.
Glenn Howard was one of our African-American community’s great lions. Personally, I shall deeply miss him. And our state, our city and our community has lost a great servant/leader, a great brother, a great friend.
See ‘ya next week at Indiana Black Expo’s 42nd Annual Summer Celebration.
You can email comments to Amos Brown at acbrown@aol.com.
