- The a r-
e child support payment to
B c and bite mothers de­
clined . gnificantly in real terms
from 1978 to 1983, ccordlng
to report from the Commerce
Department' Census Bureau.
a e reeei d by
omen in 1983 26 percent
10 the amo t reported in
1978 after dj ting for In-.
f n $1,470 en
1,980. yments to bite
men declined by 13 percent,
from 2,840 to 2,480.
ccordin to an April 1984
y, the avera child up-
port p yment to B omen
from 1981 to 1983 dropped by
18 percent ($1,800 to 1,.70)
fter adjustin for inflation,
. p yments to hite omen
eel no 'pifi ant c
From 1978 to 1981, bo e .,
payments to bite mothers feD
by 16 percent ($2,840 to
2,390) hUe tb to B ck
mothen did not chan . pi-
li t)y.
H re re other findings from
the urvey:
- The proportion of BI ck
omen t t had been wuded
child support payment of
1984 bout half that of
bit - 34 percent compared
with 67 percent.
-About half of the 2.3
million Bla mothers of chil­
dren with no father pre nt
had 1983 income belo the
po�rty 1e�1. Only 30 percent
of them had ever been arded
upport paymen , and the aver-
ep yment 1,160.
-About 240 000 BI c and
650,000 bite women nh
incomes belo the po rty yel
ere due payments, bout 60
percent of whom recei d some
payment in 1983.
-Of the 2.6 million B c
and 14.3 million hite omen
e r-divorced or currently
panted, 6 percent and 15
percent her been a arded
limony payment.
- T enty-six percent of Black
2
The numbers peak po er:
1.2 million persons or 12.9
percent of . chigan's populat­
ion with a 6 billion annual
income.
Unlocking that power to
thrust Michigan's Bl ck popula­
tion into parity with the tate's
white community is the concern
of the Council of Michigan
Urban League xecutives.
In their second annual' State
of Black Michigan" report,
issued in cooperation with the
Urban Affairs Programs of Mich­
igan State University, the League
devotes one chapter of the
63-p e report to: ''Toward
a Strategy for Economic De­
velopment in the Black Com­
munity."
As the chapter title suggests,
no an ers are provided in
the chapter, authored by Karl
D. Gregory Profe r of
Economics and an ement,
Oakland University. Instead,
Dr. Gregory offers hat he
says hopfully, "wiD serve as
point of departure for der
to develop their vi s, taking
or discarding hatever ide
they wish, and sub tituting their
o n insight ... "
The report . es a bold
ca11 for tructured col-
boration bet een the Black
church, AACP, Urban League,
c
and 39 percent of white e r­
divorced women were awarded
a property tt1ement in 1983.
The urvey w sponsored
by the Commerce Dep ment
and the Office of Child Sup­
port Enforcement, Dep ment
of Health and Human Sem
Cop' s of CIriId Support
Alimony: 1983, Smn P-23,
No. 141, are vailab from t
Superintendent of Documents,
U.s Government Printing
Office, ashington, D.C.
20402.
·SPO TS
.CHU 04 B
16
S
·YOU FAMILY'S M
SCLC, sororities, fraternities,
and the community leader to
develop and implement a plan
for community economic de­
velopment.
Gregory lays out a detailed
analysis of the teps nece ry
to map uch a plan and what
the focus of the planners
should be.
In doing 0 the Urban Le ue
report runs counter to the
current exph is on fre enter­
pri and supply side econom­
ics by putting its stre on
total community development
and not just busin . 'With·
out the de Iopment of the
total community, busin
development will be con­
strained," Gregory explains.
y
BUILD 0 STRENGTHS
"The church is the strongest
institution in the Black com­
munity:' the report state,
tim ting that B ck church
estimating that Black churches
in Michigan "h ve somewhat
Ie than S 1 billion in net
ts."
"The challenge is to de elop
models for leveraging this great
resource in a manner that
enchance tn church and the
household trengthens the
family a unit, and generate
mutual support within the com­
munity through using Blac pro­
f . nals, firm , and institutions
to the most feasible extent."
Dr. Gregory suggests po
ib enda for th churches
to help make the mo of their
resources:
-Study community econo­
mic development project that
have worked el wher nd the
rea ons for their su ce .
-Study ways in which
churche could help their m m­
ben get more for their money.
-Band togeth r with other
chur fOJ collectiv purch -
ing of common good to e rn
volume discounts nd ve de­
livery costs.
-Promote purch from
Blac busin
-Lobby insurance compani
to 'm ke loans nd equity
capital vail able for Black and
to incre the number of
Bl ck m n ged retail insurance
outl ts.
-Mobilize to lobby pen 'on
fund manager to inve t in
Black enterprise .
y
EW YORK. - The ation 1
ci 'on f r th Advan e-
ment of CoJored Peop
AACP) is ge ring up for it
third annual Black Doll r D y
demonstration which wiU be
held during Labor-Day Wee ,
Septem r 2-9.
Black Dollar Day i an
/ economic demonstr lion d ign­
ed to 0 th BI c Commun­
ity's economic rength, and to
n . tize the busin com-
. munity to th purchasi ng
po r of Black Consumers by
using $2 biDs and Susan B.
Anthony dollar coin when mak­
ing purch
AACP branch will negoti­
ate with local b nks to ha
currency vailable and ill in­
form the community about ho
they can particip te in this
economic demon tr tion. In
addition, BI busine nd
churche wilJ
ing dol
