“Everybody says that it takes a village to raise a child, but what happens when the village needs to be rebuilt?” asks Willie Barney, founder and president of the Empowerment Network. The “village” concept is integral to the Empowerment Network’s philosophy, and the organization has been […]

Willie Barney, one of Omaha’s ‘most significant leaders,’ is constantly bridging the city’s dividing lines of geography, race and social class… Wearing his standard uniform of suit coat and slacks, Willie Barney held open a college lecture hall door, greeting the teenagers streaming out. “Looking good, […]

10 years after activists charted a new path for north Omaha, the problem-plagued community may be turning a corner. By Henry Cordes / / World-Herald staff writer Ten years ago, a group of north Omaha activists met in a cafe amid the hollowed-out North 24th Street […]