Year End Public Service

My Public Diary: Secrets of a Strategist (December 2022)

Descendant, Civic Engagement, A Murderous Year

He knew his history. He knew exactly who he was.

But, I didn’t know him.

Emmett Lewis is the great-great-great-great-grandson of Cudjo Lewis, a West African kidnapped from Africa after slavery was officially abolished in the United States.

Cudjo Lewis and 109 others from West Africa (ages 2 to 25) were stolen on a bet between a Mobile, Alabama landowner and slaver and one of his friends. The wreckage of the ship that carried them, The Clotilda, was recently discovered in Mobile, Alabama.

The story is deep. Really deep. You should watch the movie.

Back to Emmett.

We met at a private reception for a screening of the film, Descendant — a documentary about the last known slave ship and the descendants of the enslaved as well as the slavers.

• The screening was held on December 2 at The Apollo Theatre in New York City’s historic Harlem borough and hosted by Mastercard’s Strategic Growth team.
• The event brought together partners of Mastercard’s In Solidarity initiative as well as descendants of the Clotilda, Netflix, New York Public Schools — more 1,000 partners, students, and Mastercard associates.

Emmett was humble, unassuming, and clearly not yet adjusted to all the attention he was receiving as a central character in the film.

“How long are you in New York?”, I asked.

“Just until tomorrow,” he quipped.

Mayor Woodfin approached us. I introduced them and they had a very brief, yet pleasant exchange.

Emmett didn’t seem to keen on small talk with strangers. He is a young man, but a military veteran with several small children. He had a serious disposition. And, he was anxious to get back home to his barbershop to take care of his customers.

Emmett wasn’t there just for the film.

He told me he wanted to be sure the story “gets told right.” That’s why he was there.

The program proceeded beautifully. Elementary school children sang the Black National Anthem.

Children from P.S. 125 The Ralph Bunche School’s Education Through Music program perform as Mastercard joins with the City of Birmingham, Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, the New York City Department of Education and others to sponsor a screening of the Netflix documentary Descendant at the Apollo Theater, Thursday, Dec. 01, 2022 in New York. Photo courtesy of Associated Press.

After the children sang, Birmingham Civil Rights Institute CEO, DeJuana Thompson, made brief remarks about the importance of institution building in support of the descendants of the Clotilda.

Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin spoke alongside Mastercard Vice Chairman Michael Froman about the importance of their In Solidarity partnership as well as the work Mastercard is doing in many other cities to drive economic inclusion and justice for Black communities throughout the world.

The film screening itself was great. The film was beautifully shot — poignant and pointed all at once.

But, the moment that captured our hearts happened in the post film panel discussion with several other descendants.

Emmett, who only met Mayor Woodfin moments before the film spoke passionately about what was important to him and the impression the Mayor made on him.

African tradition claim that descendants represent the culmination of an ancestors bloodline.

Emmett represented very well!

Every leader needs a balanced perspective. I have been very fortunate to have a remarkable balance of personal and professional endeavors the past few months.

I have spoken with more old friends in the past two months than I have in the past two years.

Thank goodness for big public gatherings like the Magic City Classic, the 30th Anniversary of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, and other major community events I was able to attend in the final quarter of the year.

Heck, I even went to see Wakanda Forever with an old friend.

But, nothing beats spending time with my family.

Sometimes I have to pinch myself — I got to have a picture perfect day in a pumpkin patch with my family.

Seeing August and Xander running through a massive field of pumpkins was something I will remember for years to come.

My work at the City of Birmingham is usually invisible to the naked eye.

In fact, if you see my fingerprints in the work of the City, then I probably did something wrong.

This work is about the Mayor and you — the people whom he was elected to serve and represent.

I believe in being felt over seen.

All that said, people often ask me, “So, what is it you actually do?”

I did my best to answer that question in this post, but hopefully it is evident in what you find below.

My public diary entries are where I share:

• personal observations and experiences
• information the media can’t or won’t publish
• how I think through city strategy

For better or worse, this is my perspective and my version of the story.

Initiatives Highlights

This list is not representative of everything in my portfolio, but it does reflect known and lesser-known initiatives whose activities bubbled up within the past two months.

MasterCard In Solidarity

We have been rocking with MasterCard for more than two years following their unprecedented commitment of $500 million to invest in financial inclusion and business opportunities for Black communities. Birmingham was one of the first seven cities with whom they made that commitment.

Earlier this year, I sat down with Salah Goss, Mastercard’s Senior Vice President and Head of Social Impact to discuss our city’s efforts in collaboration with her team.

Inaugural Randall L. Woodfin Charity Golf Tournament

A big part of my work is ensuring connectivity to various aspects of the Mayor’s civic infrastructure — his campaign, political efforts, foundation partners, etc. — and ensuring they are aligned with him and in good order.

We produced a golf tournament in 2021 through a campaign debt reduction strategy following the Mayor’s 2021 re-election campaign.

For 2022, we launched the Randall L. Woodfin Charity Golf Tournament which created space for Mayor Woodfin to engage entrepreneurs and business professionals who want to support his agenda through philanthropy.

We partnered with two entities to produce the Mayor’s charity golf tournament.

• SisterGolf, a network for women seeking to grow their golf skills and business connectivity was hired to produce the tournament.
• The Penny Foundation, a Black-led community foundation, served as the philanthropic and administrative partner.

The tournament hosted 44 teams, exceeded fundraising goals and ultimately contributed $20,000 altogether to Miles College and Birmingham Promise.

Check out the recap and photos here.

ACE Graduation

More than 1,000 Birmingham residents have graduated from our free, 7-week civic engagement experience. Our residents love it, our city department heads love it and our Mayor and City Council love it. It’s non-political, but 100% about how government does and should work for the people.

But, my favorite part of ACE is seeing the residents meet and connect with one another. We take for granted that residents are on the same page — more often than not, they are not.

There is no us versus them. Just us — trying to figure us out.

A Murderous Season

I have seen Mayor Woodfin in many moods and emotional states, but never have I seen him shed tears in public. He did for the first time as we wrapped up Birmingham’s most murderous year. A year that saw far too many children killed.

Mayor Woodfin takes his role in public safety very seriously.

He has taken to social media to share more about what we are doing as a city and to empathize with the affected families and communities.

Recently, Mayor Woodfin asked the faith community to wrap their arms around the city and acknowledge every person lost to gun violence.

Read my previous public diary posts.

October 2022: Partying with a Male Stripper, My Public Calendar, and Civic Engagement in Birmingham

July 2022:The World Games, Narrative Change, and Possibility Government

May 2022: Discovering God, Winning Big, Over Communicating, and Game of Thrones

April 2022: Food Strategies, Public Surveys, Single Parents and Creflo Dollar

March 2022: A sneak peek into my role, my calendar, and my projects

Leading in public can be harrowing inasmuch as exciting.

We owe it to ourselves and our communities to demystify and deconstruct the critically important work of public service.

Let’s do it again in 2023.

Honestly,

Ed.

Ed Fields is an poet, essayist, and strategist. He currently serves as Senior Advisor and Chief Strategist for the City of Birmingham Mayor’s Office. Follow him on LinkedIn, Medium, or Instagram.