Voices of Enlightenment: Creating The Power To Construct Our Own Community

In the past, before the world got so complicated, people used whatever elements the earth provided - mud, rocks, wood, etc. - to build a structure for themselves and their families to live in and protect themselves from the elements of weather. A man could find a wife, get a piece of land, and build a home and be happy wherever he was.  So, when families gathered together with their simple, hand constructed homes, they formed a community. People worked together to grow food, raise animals, and could feed and clothe themselves without a hassle. We called this "primitive" living but in fact, ths is the most sophisticated way to live and maintain a peaceful society.  In today's world, the power to do something as simple as build ones own living quarters has been made so exclusive to a small, elite group of people, that we literally have thousands in every city who are homeless. There is a need build housing, but there has been a deliberate exclusion of a large percentage of the population from access to the knowledge on how to build the present day structures that we use for our living space. Today, we'll examine how to regain the power to construct our own communities. Our guest is Omar Shareef, head of the African American Contractors Association. He'll be a part of the upcoming Rainbow PUSH International Convention, kicking off this week in Chicago at the Hyatt Regency Hotel with a Construction Summit. With all the new construction happening across the city, how do we get access to the contracts that would empower workers to do the work that helps them feed their families?