BULK RATE U.S.
POSTAGE PAID
Benton Harbor
Michigan 49022
• Permit No. 50
Add'ss Corr.R9Q'd
ou, Granny!'
Friend nd ell-wi hers gather-ed Saturday, Sept. 14, in
Covert to honor life long civil righ fighter and leader
Octavi Hawkins. The banner displayed above her head con
vey th sentiments of tho e in attendance. (Kristin Hay
photo)
co
•
I
USKEGON - City com
mi ioner John H. Williams
re thed igh of relief and
picked up his life follo ing
the re olution ofwhat has
developed a pattern of
treatment for Black elected
official in estern
ichigan.
William had been under
inv ti tion for allegations
h had misused funds
from th church h pastored,
John 1 y A.M.E. Zion
Church.
Williams as relieved of
his p torate by the presid
ing bishop in June at the
r que t of orne member of
his congregation.
Williams' ttorney,
Douglas Hughes is ued a
tatement following the
announcement earlier this
month by uskegon County
Pro cutor Harold Closz,
that no charges would be
iled against Williams
folIo ing four month
inve tigation.
H ughe said," Both John
nd I commend the efforts of
the uskegon County Pro
cuter's office and the u
egon Police Departl_!!en.!__
ego
•
loner
for a thorough and complete
investigation. Their conclu
sion was anticipated by both
John and myelf.Unfor
tunately, the entire episode
has been a tremendous
emotional burden upon
John and I would hope that
the media will provide as
much attention to his
exoneration and continued
good work as one of this
city's commissioners as they
did to the initial allegations
of rongdoing."
Black
2 t
COMMON SE SE
CURES CRIME:
Confessions of a cop
-See Page 13
DALLAS - Rainbow Coalit
ion leader Rev. Je Jackson
told a crowd of about 6 000
at the Convention Center Arena
here today that there are enough
Blac registered voters in Dallas
to elect a Black' to Congre
but the Black district is split
due to gerrymandering.
"The Voting Rights Act is
not being enforced," he de
clared. "In '65 we were legis
at d t but in '85 e've been
regulated out. We are freer
but le equal."
Jackson, addressing the 38th
ational Convention of Delta
Sigma Theta Sorority (the
nation's single largest Black
women's organization with me
125,000 college-trained women),
called for a new "litmus test"
in terms of political equity
for Blacks.
Stating the numbers of Black
elected officials in no way
keep pace with the numbers
of Black registered voter, Jack
son called on Blacks to mobilize
against "gerrymandering and an
nexing chemes," dual registra
tion systems like that in Mis
sissippi, and to hold the U.S.
Justice Department accountable
for enforcement of the historic
1965 act passed twenty years
ago today.
Jackson also called the roll
of civil rights/equity etbac s
in Black economic life and in
the numbers of Blacks in higher
education.
omen to meet
Concern d Black omen's
Roundtable will be presenting a
orkshop on Saturday, Septem
ber 21, 1985 from 8:00 a.m. to
5:00 p.m., at orthwestem
Junior High School, 176 limit
Street, Battle Creek.
The general theme for this
or shop i "Survival of Black
in the 21 Century." Conference
reception will be held in Stouf
fer' Hotel BaIlroon 50 Capital
Avenue, S.W., on Friday evening
September 20, from 7:00 to
9:00p.m.
Delores Wharton, a Kellogg
Company board member will
deliver the keynote address
during the opening ssion at
9:00 a.m.
The conference registration
fee is S10. Just to list a few of
the peakers: Bernice Syndor,
Tn Husband/W\fe Relationship:
The Signing of the Marriage
Vows Zeala Duncan, The
Family Unit and Rearing Chil
dren, Johnnie Burton, How I
Educated y Children, Edna
Warren, The Family and The
Building of a Community, Delso
Turner atson, "How My Fam
ily Has Helped e" and
Clita . Anderson, Summary.
.,
, e have freedom to drink
soft drinks. <But of 1 200
ft drink franchises, only one
Seven-Up franchi is owned by
a' Black. There are 15,000
banks. Only 51 are owned
by Blacks. We have the freedom
to join unions and we pay
30 million a month in union
due but almost none of this
money is reinve ed in our
workers:' said Jackson.
J ckson called on Blacks
to buy up bloc s of stock in
major hotels, airlines auto
manufacturing companie and
other corporations so that "the
next time you go to a city to
have your, meeting, the airlines,
and hotel chains and auto
companies will have to e us
(Blacks) as shareholders and
not just as consumers on the
street."
CHASTIZES U of
University of Michigan at
Ann Arbor, the University of
California at Los Angeles
(UCLA), and other major
universitie . were castigated by
Jackson for retrenchment in
affirmative action.
'There are 5.1 percent Black
students at the Univer ity of
Michigan now as compared with
10 percent 10 year ago. Yet, for
the Rose Bowl game, the chool
parade 67 Black football players,
trying to project the image of
'the new university. ' Blacks
must protest the athletic Ban
tustan and make sure Black
students are admitted to the
nation's colleges and universities
not just for athletic entertain-
ment purpo s. They must
al get into the chemistry labs
and ngineering and other
department ," he said.
Jackson said Blacks should
hold hearings at Big 1 0 and
West Coast universities to insure
a "revived commitment to af
firmative action" in terms of the
number of Blacks enrolled at
college and the numbers of
tenured faculty maintained. He
cited as a blatant example of
inattention to affirmative action
the number of Blac tudents
at UCLA - 330 out of 34,000.
The Bapti minister al
:
JACKSON
TELLS DELTA
CO VENTION
railed against he Reagan Ad
ministration for allegedly up
porting 'Hitlerism' in both
Bittburg, Germany and Johan
nesburg South Africa. Jack-
n's addre which spoke
directly to the Delta convention
theme (E to the Third Power
Education X Employment X
Emplowerment), was interrupt
ed veral time by applau .
SISTERS 'CAN DO IT ALL'
It was also interrrupted by
a heckler, who was forcefully
removed from the arena b a
Dalla Polic Department
official. De Lois Ledbetter
of Longview, exas, dre d
in a smart grey suit, accenting
grey blou with royal blue
and black diagonal stripes taupe
pump and matching pur ,
rate chopped the youn
Black man, jumped on his back
and eventually escorted him
out of the rena, itne s
said.
"You sisters can do it all,"
Jackson quipped to the cheer
ing crowd which gave led
better a tanding ovation when
e came back into the arena.
Ledbetter, who is not a Delta,
i a corporeal investigator with
the police department s intel
ligence division. She id her
job is to protect dignitarie .
At the end of Jac on'
addre , Delta ational Presi-
dent Horten G. Canady, of
Lansing, Mich., called fOJ do-
. nations for J ck on's ashing-
ton-ba d Rainbo Co lition.
, e want to put our pot of
Continued on Page 16