TheAftic"
Connection
- There is every
the m t to-town
u e n i a I epin giant."
pointer to c n id r before
tatem nt is buried in
bunch f 'ho 's, First it'
n unlimited beach t wn and
it's strat gi ly I cated to Grand
Rapid I m z and ther
rth of ernin-
enc .
The pint is that thi i not an
ec nomic e y n the viability
f u ke on' metropohi ; rath r,
ts criti al introspection of what
. n t happenin a re ult of
the myth existing am ng Blacks.
Tru n ugh, number wi e th
BI sri nificant. It is not
that e n mic interaction
amon Blacks up rts them
thr ugh th leader hip capa itie
they h v und in t hemselve .
Th cal mity of devel pm nt
in ery much com-
par ble to tho in lar er cities
like tlanra, a hington, hica­
go, nd ar. In. In m t of the
citie th Black are in c ntrol
politi II but find th t th Y
ar th ban u rd , not th b nk
pre id nt. Fund rid fr m
th inner re u d f r
de loping of little im-
port n people, inc
th busine r u ually I -
cated out ide of the Bl ck com­
muniti .
It i P ibl to g on d on
bout th itu tions th t BI k
ha b n thrown into in their
que t to grapple for their own
economic destinies, More im­
portant is for u to face the fact
that BI c bu ine rnen ' of thi
city can help or cooperate)
with each other without endanger­
ing them lve. Th brutal
fact i we have done bu ine
with the European hit m n
since he fir t et foot on the
shores of Africa. The re ulting
tru t i what has helped to di -
orient the Black man abc-it him-
If and helped to turn him into
a being who can neither live, n r
drink, nor trust hi own kind.
How quick it is to forget th
les ons of hi tory.
It is the dawn of awarene
my brother. We have to pprai
our stren th and weakne e as
a Blac pe pie. Knowing that
our greate t trength i in ur
abilitie t trust one another
in hame ing our re urce to
better our ind first and every ne
el e later. A bank that w uld
cater to Black busine is not a
f r cry, but ho could thi be a
reality when we do bu ine with
bank who hired th to en
Black" f r a lary next to mini­
mum w ge?
ext wee I'll examine me
of the ciological -conditioning
to the district among
h re in Am ric and
in Afric .
c m y t n be bl to create
the true "Afri n connection."
Brea Dancing
Beaut iful But
nd "Bre in." break
originated in e Yor ver a
In te d f fighting. m
decided they would dance
uld r ign a uperior.
po itiv channelin of viol nce
into noth r mor con tructive phy ical
ctivity - darrein .
But there arc m di tru ing thing
dan ing. S me children
ill la t forever and e it a
career
agazine edit r Mar-
rec unted an experience
ni ht while alking down
a Manhatt n treet , hid: "It a
about ten o'clock at ni ht , and I w
on Broad a • and I wa a ar than n
almo t vcr bu y I rcct corner in th t
n ighb )rht HI. t h rc were group of
nun Black tccnug rs hanging out.
They had th radio turn d up. A pi ce
AUGUST 15 - 21, 1984 THE CITIZEN ·PAGE E
Black- A Fact of life
As a Black, orking housewife,
mother and part-time tudent I
ha been employed by the me
firm for 18 years. By cla
I have moved from a cler typist,
epartment ccountant ler to
an admini trati cret ry p it-
ion.
Your might y, "Fine, the
door were opened f r her '!
ot quite true.
The door were opened ye
but I h d t con t ntly "prov "
my If fight for po ition ver­
bally, and wor twice a hard as
my c unterpart .
In the beginning I experien ed
open di crimi arion thi I c uld
handle. However, today' dis­
crimin tion i not open: It is
deviou, wrapped in miles and
explanation di gui ed in a hun­
dred different ways.
If you strike back, it ppears
that you re the tr uble maker.
If you let them. y ur inner
feeling nd fru trati n ill eat
a ay at you, di tractin your
attention and energy and turning
them into ne ative feedback .
The mo important thin is
to a that feeling of wanting
to 1 h out, to hurt back. I hav
earned to thin bef re I act!
In y u were not
S m y "I
rather beau
or fulfiUin
r fulfillin
your elf and tho around you.
Th day I applied f r my
cretariaJ po ition th hite
ecret ry w re din a n vel.
eatin c ndy bar and had n a
r dio' ear ph ne. SOOT
B DIS OURAG D!
I'd like t remind my p pie
th t hi tory d e rep t it If.
Let' n t let th 'hand of time'
a
turn
back
ard.
Stay
abrea t
and
in
tune
ith
ch n c,
nd
the late t t chn
I
B
progrc
nd
deter-
a
of your tatu r
reputati n a Blac employe
y u have an unrec rded re ord
that precede you - "Lazy nd
inefficient '. De e t thi pre­
conceived notion!
Adhere to th
ulation nd
performance.
and do y ur j b.
a per n more than d in e ry­
thing in th ir po r to m e you
up t and uncomfort ble, only
to c y u till at peace with
ot Enough
of cardbo rd moothed out on the
idew lk, nd th 'I ere break dancing,
ith a little ba ket on the ide for money.
I topped. I r tened to the teen talk.
I ked: Why are you ou t here? What
about school? h t do you e for your
future? What's life going to be like for
you? One boy named Chico, who is
13 aid: 'You know, like. maybe I
might get di overed out here on the
ide alk. You now maybe omebody
come up andy: ell he sure can
d nee."
aybe sorneon will. But the chances
are lim, nd Chic need an alternate
career choic. I am reminded of the
many teenage boy who go through
h I devoting mo of their tim to
p rts with the 01 thought of be oming
profe ionaJ athl te. ,
But few ctually make it to the pro
and too many wind up unemployed
or underemployed bee u they are
not prepared for the job mar et.
BI c adult must not let Blac
children forget that developing kill
beyond dance and port come first.
There i life after brea d ncing.
arion Wri ht Edelman i president
{fh Children's Defen e Fund, a
national "(lice [or children.
VERTISERS
SUPPORT OUR
employees at a recent
eon at Rumo '-"'LI.--'r"
a 8I'd
'CARPET
CLEANED
• Sat! faction Cuar�nt
( 616) 722-7515
Sm·th .
Carpet Cleaning
, teppin
"stumblin
u d a
n t
selection
is
Black in votin ter re istration,
and denie the conti uin ffect jf uch
di crimin tion ,. h ontinued.
condly, th rulin 0 an in n-
itivity to th fair cro • ction require­
ment of th feder jury lection t tute,
which 'I explicitly th t where voter
registration li t fail to fairly repre nt
the overall community, the govern­
ment is obligated to correct the pro­
blem by the u of upplemental urces.
"And thirdly, an nsitivity to tho
eking ju tice in the Greensboro rna -
ere c . Alre d ,we have witne d
two ca where all-white june cquitted
th men who drove up to and di rupted
a ovember 3, 1979 anti-klan r lIy
killing five of the demonstrator • and
wounding more th n ten others in the
proce ."
The civil right group. ccording to
Singletary, plan to appeal the ruling.
A change in the wythe jury poo .
lected i on of th fir e
ring th t there i n't a repeat 0
has already happened in tate 'd f d
courts, he said.
Six klan m n nd azi er q itted
of tate murder ch rge in 1980 by
all-white jury. And in April of thi ye r,
nine zis and u Klux KI n n-
,
me of wh m included tho t free in
1980 - were acquitted of federal civil
right violation. thi time bef e,
by an all-white jury.
,
.