[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...amp;TM=32755.26

'The Community Used To Take Care Of The Community.'
Leadership is needed, Chester Hawkins believes.

Dave Hawk
The News-Dispatch

MICHIGAN CITY - Chester Hawkins is a proud man who isn't afraid to challenge the black establishment, whether it's the NAACP, local ministers or young men wearing their baggy pants too low.

Hawkins has a reputation in the community, partly based on the provocative letters he occasionally writes to Anvil Chorus, for being outspoken on social issues.

As for the young men's baggy pants fashion statement, the topic of one of his letters, "When they see me, they pull them up."

While he regularly chides others, he also offers ideas, and says he is working with others on a plan to be unveiled later that will identify solutions to some of the city's problems.

Hawkins, 53, was born in Kansas City, Mo., and spent his summers in Michigan City as a child, then moved here as an adult after serving in the U.S. Marines.

He has worked with children as a volunteer athletic coach at elementary schools, and headed the Midnight Basketball program for three years in the 1990s. He has seen the city's youth and is acquainted with the city's leadership.

He is a security guard, and he worked at Marquette Mall for a few years. He also works for the Pinkerton security service as a supervisor and training officer.

A top issue for Michigan City and its black community, Hawkins said, is leadership.

"I would like to see a lot more participation from ministers, black, white, Catholic, and have them go into the neighborhoods where the drugs and the unsafe sex are, to go out and dedicate themselves to the ones who need help," he said. "I'd like to see a lot more caring for the people of Michigan City."

Many people simply don't understand how poverty impacts the community, and those affected by it. The young need teachers and counselors, as well as their parents, to lift themselves up.

"The community used to take care of the community. We lost that and we need to get back to that," Hawkins said.

Working as a caseworker for Helping Our People Excel, he noticed just how poor many people are.

"I didn't realize there was so much poverty myself," he said.

"You can't blame it on the teachers, but you can't blame it on all the young men and women, either," he said. Many disadvantaged youth need extra help to pull themselves out of poverty. That form can be the NAACP, health department or fundraising walks like those held in Chicago and other places to fight cancer, diabetes or sickle cell anemia.

"We need to bring it out in the open and give people knowledge about what's going on," he said.

An issue is jobs - and being qualified for employment. One of Hawkins' causes is urging employers to give convicted felons a chance. Without a job they simply can't succeed after their discharge from prison.

Jobs used to be easier to obtain, he said, and the lack of employment isn't always racial discrimination, he said.

"It's policy."

Many employers have policies against hiring someone with a criminal record, which for some occupations is understandable, he said. But for ex-cons who have gotten an education or even a college degree, businesses need to give them a chance.

Many young men are quite capable of doing carpentry, plumbing, drywall or landscaping, he said, but often their "vices" hold them back.

It may take employers overlooking "little vices," Hawkins said.

One man he knows drinks a lot but is still capable of work.

"He gets so drunk but he works his butt off. I don't know how he does it," Hawkins said, explaining the man would take a nip from a bottle now and then while on the job.

While he's not advocating such conduct, he said not everyone comes with a clean record.

In fact, Hawkins said that one of the things the community needs is a dance hall or gathering place that doesn't serve alcoholic beverages.

While he is hoping to become more of a participant in bringing about change in Michigan City, Hawkins sees his role as that of a commentator teaching others.

"If we get it all together, we can do anything," he said.

Contact Dave Hawk at dhawk@thenewsdispatch.com.

[JHeath]

Many young men are quite capable of doing carpentry, plumbing, drywall or landscaping, he said, but often their "vices" hold them back.

It may take employers overlooking "little vices," Hawkins said.

One man he knows drinks a lot but is still capable of work.

"He gets so drunk but he works his butt off. I don't know how he does it," Hawkins said, explaining the man would take a nip from a bottle now and then while on the job.

Sorry, but as an employer, I wouldn't see this as a "little vice"...especially if it's something that might end up affecting his work habits.

[Dave]

Sorry, but as an employer, I wouldn't see this as a "little vice"...especially if it's something that might end up affecting his work habits.

Not to mention on the job safety.

But I do have to wonder what people are thinking when they pre-screen job applicants who have criminal convictions. I'm not suggesting hiring embezzlers as bank tellers, but I don't have any problem with an embezzler mowing my lawn, or working on an assembly line. I wonder how anyone with a felony conviction ever gets a job.

[edgeywood]

Not to mention on the job safety.

But I do have to wonder what people are thinking when they pre-screen job applicants who have criminal convictions. I'm not suggesting hiring embezzlers as bank tellers, but I don't have any problem with an embezzler mowing my lawn, or working on an assembly line. I wonder how anyone with a felony conviction ever gets a job.

There brother-in-law hires them at the Sanitary District. ;-)

[Ang]

There brother-in-law hires them at the Sanitary District. ;-)