Last summer, I was headed to the Recorder one morning when I read that former Indiana Gov. Mike Pence was headed to tour the hood with Charles Harrison. His visit coincided with him being named then-presidential candidate Donald Trump’s running mate. To say that I was agitated would be an understatement. I immediately put my thoughts in a column, and though I wouldn’t use some of that same explosive language today, my overall thoughts on the matter remain.
Last Friday, I was again on my way to work when I learned about U.S. AG Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III’s visit with Ten Point. Like deja vu, the agitation returned.
A lot has changed, but some things remain the same. Trump is president, Pence is VP, and Harrison’s judgement hasn’t improved.
Sessions — the man who has been accused of perjuring himself before the Senate when asked about his communications with the Russians, the man Coretta Scott King believed would undo the work of her late husband and other civil rights leaders if allowed to take the post of federal judge, as penned in a 1986 letter objecting to his nomination — sat down with Ten Point leadership Monday to discuss taking their crime-prevention model nationwide.
Other local media outlets report that Sessions read prepared statements at Barnes United Methodist Church before the media was asked to leave the room; afterward, those remaining had a 45-minute private talk purportedly about implementation and strategy. Later, the group walked along 30th and MLK before Sessions was whisked away via caravan. I hear that at some point, the group shared a meal at Kountry Kitchen. Wow. I hope the smothered pork chops and lemonade were filling.
I said it then, and I’ll say it now: Charles Harrison, you’ve got to be kidding me!
Each time Harrison is criticized for his decisions to entertain men of questionable character, we hear the same rhetoric. As he told Tim Swarens of the Star, “During the civil rights movement, Dr. King met with very controversial figures who were considered racist at the time. If we’re going to address urban youth gun violence, we have to get everybody at the table.”
Here’s the thing: I don’t think folks like me who are upset by Sessions’ visit disagree that it takes all sorts of people working together to make change. We get that. But does one of the people have to be a man with such a long, sordid history of opposition to voting rights and the civil rights of women, people of color, the differently abled and the LGBTQ community?
I guess so, when greenbacks are involved. Despite not having what it took (quantifiable data that points to the organization’s effectiveness, maybe?) to receive crime prevention grant funding from CICF in 2015 (application denied) and in 2016 (application withdrawn because it was incomplete), the group has received certain carrots, including $500,000 from Indiana AG Curtis Hill and a questionable $50,000 from CICF earlier this spring. I say questionable to the latter because it came about following a March vote by the council to “approve a new, expedited grant round focused on organizations preventing or reducing crime.” The criteria for the grant was also very specific, as it targeted organizations that “prevent retaliation or reduce crime through conflict resolution — including, but not limited to, outreach workers conducting street mediation and crisis intervention. Additionally, awards were focused on organizations serving high-crime beats designated by the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department,” as stated on CICF’s website.
This March 2017 vote followed a January 2017 attempt by Republican City-County Councilor Jeff Coats to redirect $400,000 from the council to groups like Ten Point.
I guess these examples and others are the reasons why Ten Point leadership combats any criticism of their alliances by stating, “We just wanna work with who wants to work with us.” But at what point do you as a leader, Rev. Harrison, decide you don’t need to be friends with just anybody? That your ministry should mean more to you than cosigns and coins?
I know that to some my critiques of Harrison come off as brash and unwarranted, but where are we as a people if we don’t hold each other accountable? In my heart of hearts, I’d like to believe that Harrison’s heart is in the right place, but Sessions’ appearance makes it all the more difficult to hold my tongue.
