DSOFACTI
- Accuracy - Relevance'
,
r
Mem ,
Educlltioil
The nature of the eoatroeer­
sy surrounding Detroi Public
Schoo in the daily media· a
part of a puzzle ose so .
involves a clear understanding .
of tr tb, e r C1, and
The puzzle the daily
media in the city of Detroi con­
siStently repi'esenting . ell
. reported in a oegati\te light be­
cause of the y in which report­
ing t es place. It seees peaJliar
to me that out of all that bas been
investigated d reported over­
time that no illegalities have
been found. This fact pea
loudly regarding the motivatioD
and intent d worthiness of the
cause of th 0 are allowed
to report the daily e to our
community.
Institutions devoted to pub . c
service, (includiog papers
and television), should . lain,
at the very least, three priD­
cip That· all servants of the
public should serve in support of
ace , and reIt�DCe.
"Parts of truth" presented
"whole truth· along o. •
curacies i de r te dat .
Thi see a behavioral charac­
teristic of some perso working
for our daily media in Detroit.
The following examp are but
a few of th many that could be
outlined:
TRUIlI
I think th t it i that the
recent "Black PublWler's Ban­
quet for Scholarship Awards" to
outstanding graduating seniors
from Detroit Public Schools
deserved to be featured in the
daily media that serves the city
of Detroit. It seems a further
truth that the daily media in
Detroit did not chose again to
highlight the positive achieve­
ments of African Americans.
Why do you think that this is so?
ACCURACY 0
It does not represent ac-
e to re-port that:
- Detroit Public Schools
does not have Head start
Programs and other early
childhood education programs;
and
- Detroit Public Schools
have taken no ction to try and
the dropout problem.
Rather, it i ccurate to
report that Detroit Public
Schools does have and has had
an outstanding record of ser­
vice to youngsters in early
childhool education, inc1udiDg
Head Start.
Further, it would be � .... ,.
to report that a number of
programs and program features
h ve been and still exist in efforts
to try and halt number of
kno n cau e of dropouts.
(Booth Center, T.A.P.E.C.,
C. E. G., Easts·de Development
Center, Westside �Iopment
Center, etc.)
RELEVANCE
I believe that it . to
the majority of the citizens of
Detroi to know that 15 of our
elementary and middle school
tudents successfully won 11 of
A sal
. I
15 team awards in competitio
with over 1,000 students from
across tim country in academic
gaming. .
No daily newspaper nor
te�io station serving our city
thought it enough to
report. I wonder why?
I
Critics of Detroit Public .
Schools are rightfully giYen time
and space by the daily media. I
welrome those efforts as efforts
to bring bout positive change,
However, i . seems shortsighted
to make no effort to inYestigate
the motivations and the bac -
ground history of the aitia with
Detroit Public Schools. Some
critics are given "play" and
"leadership roles by the. daily
media and certain f cts about
the critics are left unknown. In a
later issue, I will expose sOme of
the unknowns that inYeshgating •
reporters who rk for the daily
media halYe not been able to un­
rover. I wonder why?
When we look at where
Detroit Public Schoo re 10
years ago on state assessment
tests� other measures of the
quality f the system and rom-
pare tha to where we are now, I
am de we have done
a good job . available resour­
ces under .. conditions.
Before �u evaluate Detroit
Public Schoo , keep in mind
that our schoo are DOt what
they ere and they have
progressed long way from
where they were. This change
took place with limited financial
resources, overt difliaalties in
the neighborhOod (aime and
drugs), and or no support
from major institutions and
critics.
I Detroit
. been able to
of improve
innovative
lie Schoo have
avel a steady pace
nt.lt bas Do been
efforts to better
Cba"aa community in
ways.
. that limits us is
d as much money
. d in our District
r districts have,
able to make the
the best district in
ichjgan. No ques-
where you have a
of the Supreme
. ing about how
e to Zimba 0 we"- inde
. C ., Jr.
Justice-seeking and freedom­
loving peoples throughout the
world joined the people of Zim­
ba in celebr ting the Eighth
Anniversary of Independence of
Zimb e on April 18, 1988.
- President Robert Mugabe and
the Government of Zimbabwe
have been uceessful in �Iop-
. Zim into one of the
strong African natio that
borders the r cist apartheid
regime of South Africa.
I d the uniqu opportUnity
to be in Zim on indepen-
dence Day part of a leader-
ship delegation from the U . ed
Church of Christ touring
southern Africa. As travelled
toward tbe i ternati aI airport
located· Har e, tb capital
city of Zimbab e, e a
hundreds of person comi
in to the city from the
rountryside to participate in the
. dependence celebi'· .1)e
CIVIL
RIGHTS
JOUR AL_..._ ......
treets were lined withthe yel-
10 , gree red, and black colors
of Zimbab e's national flag.
There a sense of joy in the
Key to the bility of any na­
tion· the question of natioDal
unity. One of die benchmar of
Zimbabwe's progre to rd
unity the recent unification
of the two political parties that
made up Zim 's P triotic
Front; Zanu (PF) and PF-Zapu.
Zimbabwean President Robert
Mugabe, who· the leader of
Zanu (PF), just Dr.
Joshua N omo, who i the
leader of PF-Zapu, to be the
Second Vice President f Zanu
(PF). In other words, from now
on there will be one integrated
Political party that will serve the
interests of the masses" of the
people of Zimb bwe, rather
than a divisive, competitive two­
party system icb is the past
caused more disunity than unity.
Mugabe and Nkomo should
. be congratulated for their uq_ity
and spiri and action. Other
African and third world natio
ould do well to learn from
Zimbab e's success. Nimmo
com.me ed to a member of our
delegation: "I p the freedom,
unity, and �Iopment of Zim­
babwe the paramount co -
t and th church
and servisg the
people of 'Zim-
cern.. "
We ··ed
theU ·edOl
Zimbabwe. We
learn that there .
wor relatio
I der ip of
of Christ of
re p sed to
cooperative
hip between
sponsor and promote disunity
among the peo Ie Zimb bwe.
Dr. Shamuyatira tated in a
recent interview, outh Africa
tried very hard ver the last
seven years to e peop in
Matebeleland and some of the
leaders of Matebeleland in an
anti-government, anti-Zim­
bab ture. South Africa es­
tabli hed a radio station near
our border a?d made daily
broadcasts intq Matebeleland,
attempting to incite th popula­
tion against ttie Zimbabwean
government B t the achieve­
ment of uaity i all secti as of
Zimbab e ha no defeated
South Africa' to divide
d conquer us
Oncc:again
. Africa is co tted to nothing
Ie than subverting and de -
tabilizing the �ontline nati
that bord r South Africa, either
by political and eco omic threat
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