By Charles H. Winfrey
In the vernacular of the community in which I live, the greatest honor one can bestow upon another man is to call him “a good brother.” Woodrow Stanley, in a word, was just that…a good brother. The man’s love for his fellow brothers and sisters cast a warm glow to anyone he encountered, whether they were outwardly down on their luck, or the president of a fortune 500 corporation. He exuded genuine brotherly love with his warm handshake and a smile that could light up the world.
Wood was genuine. He was non-judgmental-because in his life he had endured both the worst of times and the best of times. Having been raised in the St. John Street neighborhood in a family of 12, he was keenly aware of the worst of times. Having ascended to the highest office in local politics, he had also experienced the best of times. He was as much at ease with the homeless man walking the streets of downtown Flint as he was with his friend, Bill Clinton, the 42nd President of the United States. He was as friendly with ex-cons as he was with corporate CEO’s. He was a good brother.
I first met Wood 53 years ago at Mott College (I think then it was referred to as Genesee Community College or Flint Junior College, I can’t remember). He was the youngest in a group of brothers, mostly military veterans, who formed the Black Students Union (BSU) to impress upon the college’s administration to become more responsive to the needs of our community. This was in 1968. It was a time when African American student activists across the country were crying out for relevance in our bastions of higher learning. It was also a time when we cut our political teeth. We galvanized the Black Student body at MCC to the point that we swept virtually every seat on the Student Government Council.
We both majored in political science after transferring to University of Michigan-Flint. Our goal was to go to law school. We went to Ann Arbor together to take the LSAT Test. Neither of us stayed the law degree course. As student activists in the Students for Black Action (SBA) at UM-Flint, we continued the groundwork laid by Vernon Farmer and John McCray to continue pressing upon the school’s administration the need for a Black studies program. The administration finally relented. Committee “A” was formed, consisting of George Whitfield, Ida Reynolds, Bradford Barksdale, Woodrow Stanley, the late Dr. Tony Martin and myself, for the purpose of designing and implementing what is now the Africana studies program. While there, we continued to hone our political teeth, once again utilizing our organizing skills to virtually sweep most seats on the university’s student government body.
Wood was a lot more serious about politics than I. After graduation, he became more involved in community organizations like the Urban Coalition. He managed Mattie Fordham’s unsuccessful bid for the 5th Ward City Council seat. In 1983, Floyd Clack’s election to the State House left a vacancy on Flint City Council. After tossing his hat in the ring for the appointment to fill the 2nd Ward vacancy, the political pundits said he didn’t have a chance of winning. Wood defied the odds. He and his crew went door-to-door collecting signatures of hundreds of 2nd Ward residents stating their preference for Wood to fill the seat. He presented the petitions to Flint City Council. He got the appointment.
After eight years on Flint City Council, Wood decided to run for mayor. Once again, the naysayers got busy. “Its not your time yet, Woodrow,” they said. Undeterred, Wood set out on the campaign trail with very little money, but armed with an army of volunteers and a campaign machine organized down to the block level. After prevailing in the 1991 primary election against a number of political heavyweights—Matt Collier, the incumbent, Dan Kildee, Richard Dicks—he went on to defeat Collier by 10,000 votes.
When Wood was sworn in, his first commitment was to make city hall resemble the city of Flint. African Americans constituted only about 35% of the workforce, when the city’s African American population was about 55%. By the middle of Wood’s second term of office, the city’s workforce was about 50% across the board. Throughout his tenure as mayor, Wood had a special place in his heart for youth. He created the Mayor’s Initiative on Summer Employment (MISE) that prevailed upon various city vendors and other businesses to hire young people who did not qualify for federally funded summer employment programs because of their parent’s income. He also created the Mayor’s Youth Cabinet, and the Woodrow Stanley Youth Foundation to provide funds for scholarships and youth-serving organizations. Wood’s signature piece while in office, however, was University Park, an inner-city subdivision that the naysayers said would never work. There are very few, if any, vacant homes in University Park.
There had never been a three-term mayor since the city’s new charter was adopted in 1974. The pundits stated Wood would never win a 3rd term. In 1999, he was sworn in as mayor once again.
The rapid departure of General Motors from the city of Flint, left the city in a financial bind. The structural imbalance caused by diminishing tax revenue and ever-increasing costs, sent the city into a financial tailspin. Budget cuts did not come quick enough to stop the onslaught. That, coupled with the vendetta the Flint Journal’s publisher held against Mayor Stanley resulted in an incessant assault on Wood’s character and competency. A negative piece about the mayor appeared in the Journal virtually each day, usually in three-fold fashion, first a news story, then a column and lastly an editorial. Former President Trump has taught us that if you tell a lie often enough a lot of people will soon believe it. If you throw enough manure against the side of the barn, some of it will stick. Thus, the recall in 2002.
Following the recall election, the pundits were busy once again declaring that that was the end of Wood’s political career. But once again he defied the odds. In 2004, he was elected to the Genesee County Board of Commissioners, and in 2006 he became its chairman. In 2008, he was elected to represent the 34th District in the Michigan House of Representatives, where he served until 2014.
After finding out that my friend had cancer, I called to reassure him that he had beaten the odds time and time again-that he was a winner and he was going to win against the odds once again. This time, it wasn’t so. On February 15 he went on to Glory. But his legacy, the extremely large footprints he left in the sands of time, will live on forever. He was my brother and I loved him. He was a good brother.
My heart goes out to Reta, Heather, Jasmine and the entire family for their loss.
Farewell my brother, until we meet again!
Note from editor: Some of the views expressed in this writing are the views of Charles H. Winfrey.
