Fertile Ground – Inspiration

James Rodney, Goal Harvester

Angie Ledbetter

I had the honor of recently meeting and interviewing the local Executive Director of Capital Park Community Development Corporation of Baton Rouge, LA, James Rodney.  Mr. Rodney is one of those rare people - self-made, salt of the earth, relaxed and comfortable with himself and the world, a Renaissance man.

Asked about himself and his background, Rodney began, “I am the son of a share cropper. I was born in New Roads, Louisiana in 1927. My Dad was part of President Roosevelt’s New Deal.”  “How’s that for an opener?” he winked. The fascinating life he slowly revealed was full of pearls of wisdom, experience and inspiration.

Like other “lucky” farmers at the time, the Rodney family was selected to participate in the government program meant to stimulate the farming industry. Only the best farmers were chosen in each district. Rodney leaned back in his worn and comfortable chair and set his mind in the past. He coolly fielded the many phone calls and visits from people seeking help without being distracted from the mission before him. After directing a constituent to another agency for information, Mr. Rodney continued, “Becoming a land owner fulfilled the prerequisite for a black person to be eligible to vote. So when I say that we were share croppers, it has many proud connotations.”

James Rodney attended St. Augustine Catholic School through 7th grade, which was all that was affordable at the time. “After that, you had to attend high school in Baton Rouge, and that was out of the question for our family. However, there’s a lot to be learned on a farm.”

The Rodney family planted all the crops suited to the area on their 100-acre farm such as sugar cane, cotton, potatoes, corn, onions and other table vegetables. “Daddy didn’t believe an honest and decent living could be made without putting a plant in the ground,” Rodney chuckled.

Rodney’s two brothers went into the service, but he got deferred so that a son would be left at home. His siblings got him excited about the military, so he later volunteered. He spent three years in service, which included participation in the Berlin airlift team that brought in supplies.  After being discharged, he “kinda loafed around for a year” before reenlisting in the Army. He was sent to Korea via Japan, where superiors moved him “swiftly through the system.” Asking a commander about the wisdom of promoting an underling who had never seen a weapon or received training, the captain replied, “Move on, soldier!”

Rodney was twice wounded and awarded the Purple Heart and a Cluster. Receiving both awards is a very rare occurrence in the same war, I found out by questioning further, as his humility did not allow for bragging of any kind. “I was patched up and sent back in again.” He next became an ROTC instructor of military tactics. Rodney badly wanted to go to college as he was teaching with only a 7th grade education, but the opportunity seemed closed to him.

“Someone told me that military can take the GED and get an equivalent diploma,” Rodney said, “and I asked how I could get that.” The prerequisite for taking the GED was a 9th grade education, and I only had 7.” He wrote to the governor and told him his story. Rodney got a letter back that told him to go to Southern University and to take the GED. The family lessons of determination and perseverance paid off for Mr. Rodney.

“You miss a lot with those 5 years of education. (8th through 12th grades) I needed that information. Liking to read helped me out, but it was a struggle,” Rodney remembered. “This was a conservative school where everyone was addressed as Mr. and Mrs. and ties and coats are worn.”

 “In my first English class, the teacher said in order to pass her course, we had to write a story of an interesting life’s event. I wrote of the military and passed my paper in. Mrs. Love – I will never forget her name – talked to me after class. She had read my paper over and over again and couldn’t understand it. The whole paper was redlined! She was candid and honest with me and said, ‘Mr. Rodney, I highly recommend that you go to the Dean’s Office and withdraw. I don’t think you’ll make it here.’ That hit me in the head like a bat!”

“I walked the 2 ½ miles to my off campus housing crying like a little baby,” Rodney remembered. “Then I heard, ‘You gonna have to get a job, fool!’ but I said to myself, ‘This university is gonna be my job from now on for 8 hours a day!’”

The new college student applied the military strategies he’d learned to this new challenge. He developed what is known today as a spreadsheet. He returned to class and found that he’d have to read 20 books for English and write 3 book reports. “At that time, my reading was limited to Zane Grey from the mobile library van, as blacks were not allowed in the library,” Rodney said. “I talked to the librarian, Mrs. Shade, and told her I wanted to ‘borrow’ those 30 books. She told me how to get a library card and how to use the library. I spent hours and days in a 10 X 10 room with encyclopedias and a huge dictionary we called Big Momma. I also hid behind the columns in the library and watched what other students were doing. I saw the big row of drawers they were going to and thought, ‘There must be some bad stuff in those little boxes.’ Soon I figured out how to use the card catalog too.”

“Mrs. Shade said to me, ‘You are the most dedicated and enthusiastic student. I can set my clock by your appearance here.” She gave me a tour of her library and I didn’t know there were that many books in the world. I saw the Psychology books area and was attracted to that field of study,” Rodney said.

Using his military strategy experience, James Rodney overcame all odds to finish college in 3 ½ years with. He received honors and scholarships such as the Newman Club’s award, recognition from the psychology department, a Legislative Award; all of which helped him get into the University of Colorado for their master’s degree program. Mentor, Professor Dr. Goins steered him to his alma mater.

 Arriving a day late for registration, Mr. Rodney was left with “a nickel and a nail” in his pocket. “There I was in Colorado, too ashamed to come home,” Rodney said. He next made his way by hitchhiking and the bus to an uncle’s home in California. Rodney remembers the area as “a rough place to be in 1957.” “I was told that I either had too much education or not enough in my job hunting.”

 Rodney finally landed a job as a janitor at Rand Corporation, a thriving think tank. Within 3 weeks he was the section supervisor of 21 workers. The thrust of the business was toward long- and short-term research on various hypotheses. One of the departments at Rand was Systems Development Corporation, which employed over 6,000 people around the country at that time. Rodney swiftly filed applications for that division. “You have to let a company know you want to work for them!” Rodney said. “I called once a week about that job until the lady knew my name. She called me when it became available.”

 The racial situation from 1964-65 was a boiling caldron, and Rodney was assigned to work in that area. “I think I was at one time working for the CIA at one point and didn’t even know it. We were helping to provide education, food, training, etc. to minority groups and trying to appease the growing social problems,” Rodney recalled. Some of those very programs were the groundwork for successful ones today such as Welfare to Work. The job took him to Guam, Alaska, Iceland, Greenland, and all over the US. He also became a specialist for the Doppler Radar System, and used the first computer for training exercises involving simulated air/ground environments.

 Rodney worked in the Rand system for 3 years until it died out, and then went on to USC for more schooling. Rodney said, “USC got a huge grant to train special ed teachers to become better teachers with new methods. Only 23 students were selected from thousands, and I was one of them.” He taught at Jordan High School in Watts for 2 years and was able to implement many wonderful programs by working with the Mayor’s Office. One of his goals was to “instill a sense of pride in black students for the area they lived in.”

 Rodney’s wife, Barbara, saw an ad for over-seas schools and they applied for the Dept. of Defense School. The Rodneys were accepted and left for Europe; he to teach special ed, she to teach English. He established a new hands-on education for his struggling students in Germany. “We got the military to rehab an old barracks building and we set up a restaurant store for the students to run,” Rodney explained. “Operating this business taught them much about every subject and gave them experience in the real world. In that one year, they learned more than I could have taught them in a classroom in 5 years.”

 The students made hamburgers, hotdogs, and light fare, but once a week they prepared a complete meal to serve to the school. “This set-up forced interaction between my students and the rest of the ‘regular’ student body and faculty, which was one of my goals for them,” Rodney said. The class restaurant was so successful that they earned enough money to take the whole class to Paris. “The shop class my students worked in got very good too. Some of them made metal warrior sculptures that I got orders for back in the States,” he added.

 In 1979, Rodney was assigned as Assistant Principal in Baum Holder, Germany. “This is where the German Panzer units were trained. We took it over and trained our own there. I had a wonderful relationship with the principal, John Davis, and it was a wonderful experience,” Rodney recalled. The DOD was looking for a systems manager to do infrastructure work for the school, which included responsibility for the logistics of 19 military schools throughout Europe. Rodney worked in this capacity for 4 years. “It gave me the experience for the job I am doing today,” he said.

 Rodney’s boss was having racial problems at the schools and wanted him to go “clean up the mess.” Rodney said, “I couldn’t refuse him. He’d been so good to me. It was a great experience. I talked to parents and developed a team partnership with them and established a philosophy by first getting the teachers on my side.”

 Rodney retired from government service but remained in Germany until 1988. He started and ran 3 businesses while there – The Pig Pen (an ethnic restaurant that carried good food not found in the commissary) in which he partnered with German slaughter houses; a t-shirt shop; and Rodney’s Louisiana BBQ House (a restaurant run with a local man). Rodney has his own BBQ sauce and label called “YaYa Sauce.”

 After returning to Baton Rouge, Rodney attended a meeting for rehabilitating the community area. “I was 10 minutes late to the second meeting and got elected president,” Rodney laughed. “We bought our second home in the area I was asked to help revitalize.” Rodney has worked hard as the Executive Director of Capital Park Community Development Corporation.

 James Rodney finds, build or rehab homes for low- to moderate-income people. It’s a complicated and demanding process in which he employs all of his former training and experience to accomplish great things for people. Mr. Rodney is renovating a huge local complex purchased from a government agency for $1.00 as a training academy for those who want to move from apartment dwelling into home ownership. He is also spearheading the revamping of a subdivision, which currently has 27 rental homes.

 This mover and shaker, using strategic planning, has plans for his community and its economic development which includes job training and placement, rehabilitating housing and teaching these skills in the classroom, and getting youth involved in pride of ownership. Mr. James Rodney inspires community and self-pride through his many ministry activities as well. He is a 4th degree member of the Knights of Columbus, and was asked to become the Grand Knight. Rodney is also a CCD (religious education) teacher, works with inmates on death row at Angola Prison, and works with city youth.

 

James Rodneyisms to ponder –

1.)    “Older people think they have the answers to all problems, and that’s now always true. We need to get information from the people we are trying to help first.”

2.)    “Prioritizing and mapping out a plan will help you accomplish your goals and dreams.”

3.)    “Don’t be afraid to approach people you have categorized or stereotyped. I’ve always learned many things from those I’ve approached openly. It’s all in how you say things to them.”

4.)    “Make a positive difference no matter where you are.”

5.)    “Honesty is what I look for in helping people. This is true whether it’s job related or evangelizing.”

6.)    “Do at least one good deed every day.”

7.)    “Sometimes all a person needs is a ‘hello’ and a smile!”

8.)    “Go see other parts of the world. It will help you analyze what is good and bad, right and wrong. Share food, ideas, conversations and systems with other cultures.”