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Aprfl23-29,19I9 MICHIGAN ctI1ZEN
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Opinion/CCtmmentary/Editorials/Letters
'eric a IS n,dangered
de·moci ocy "
The Black. Agenda and independe/Jf-polii;cs
By Dr. Lenora Ful persuasion, religious organiza-
Along with other concerned . tion, all economic levels, ages,
African Americans, I have been philosophies and walks of life."
invited. to take part in the In 1972 the National Black
African American Summit that Political Convention met in
is being eld in ew Orleans on Gary, Indiana. In his explosive
the wee end of April2!.. keynote 'address M-ayor
In h letter of invitation th Hatcher, the convention co-
general chairman ofthe African chair, handed down a pas­
American Summit '89, former sionate indictment of both the
Gary, Indiana Mayor Richard major parties.
Hatcher I - the rust African "No political party which
American to be elected mayor represents the interests of
of a major American city - ex- America's giant corporations,
plained that "an African rather than the urgent needs of
American Agenda for the aext the people, may enlist Black
four years and on out to the year political power in its support -
2000, which transcends party Hereafter, every political party
and partisan considerations, must make up its mind. It can­
will be developed at this meet-not represent both the corpora­
ing." The Summit, he continued, t· ODS and the people. As the
"will be open to U African party chooses, so shall we then
Americans of every political choose the party.
A
ticipation.1 There is always the
spectre of those at the bottom
uniting to cast their ballots to
�verturn the power, exploita­
tion, and oppression which
flows from the peak of the
pyramid
Towards a
Vo er Bill of
R.ights
By R Daniels
, �early twenty-five years
after the passage of the historic
Voting Rights Act, and twenty­
five years, this year, since youn
Schwerner, Goodman and
Cheney were killed in Mississip­
pi as they fought for the' right to
vote for disenfranchised Black
people, 70 million Americans
are not registered to vote. In
America, the nation that boasts
of being tlie fountainhead of Two-thirds of the 70 million
democracy, nearly 40% of the people who remain unregistred
I voting aged population isnot on in America are low inco e
the voting rolls. In 1984, 85 mil- people, who if they register a
lion Americans failed to par- to vote and used the ballot to
ticipate in the presidential elec- promote their interest, co d
tion. In 1988 that Dumber in- radically change America's
creased to 91 million people, or public policy priorities. J
only 50.8% of the total There are 3-6 million home­
American electorate. America, less people in America. Some
the "beacon of demoaacy" in 37 million people have no hea
the world, has the absolute insurance. Some 60 million
lowest level of voter participa- Americansare either complet -
tion of any western demoaacy. Iy illiterate or functionally it­
Most Americans are una are of literate. The public schools are
the shameful conditien of' deteriorating while aid to
dcmoaacy In is nation. education is being reduced Un-
told numbers of people are
turning to drugs to relieve their
pain and as a source of income
and survival because America's
"prosperity" has failed t/b'
provide good jobs with good
wages for millions of peopl� in'
America. The military budget
for bombs, weapons of destruc­
tion, and star wars keeps grow­
ing and so does America's .
economic underclass which has
few weapons against hunger,
homelessness, poverty, il­
literacy and disease. America
has the highest infant mortality
rate of any western nation.
Ron
Daniels
VANTAGE
. POINT
. DE OCRACY IS IN danger
of becoming the privilege of the
FEW in America. Those who
have wealth and power in
America virtually control trhe
economic and political systems,
and manipulate these systems to
promote, advance and protect
their interests. The masses of
minorities, poor and working
people do not have big money.
What they do have is the poten­
tial to cast massive numbers of
ballo The big vote can poten­
tially offset big money. Histori-
" caUy the privileged few have al-
. ...
ways sought to deny or dis-
courage massive voter par- .
i·
THE PEOPLE· EM·
POWERED is democracy's
greatest guarantee. Democracy
is in dan I because' unneces-
sary barrie nqw stand between
million of ets and the power
of the ballot box. While
America lectures the world on
the need for democracy, there is
little alarm or concern about
America's own endangered
democracy. This lack of con­
cern by the power structure is
self serving. It allows those who
control the commanding
heights of wealth and po er to
retain their privileged positions
virtually unchallenged
It's time for that to change.
We must breakdown the bar- '1
riers which discourage people
from registering, and open the
doors to the ballot box,
We need a VOTER. BILL
OF RIGHTS. The GOVERN­
MENT ust work to ensure the
ready access of every American
citizen to the ballot box. What
would constitute a good Voter
Bill of Rights?
Every state in America
should have a registration level
of at least 90% of its voting aged
citizens. In any state where less
than 90% of the 'citizens are
registered to vote the govern­
ment should act affirmatively to
institute the _ following
measures: ,-
- SAME DAY ON SITE
REGISTRATION - voters
may register on the day of elec­
tion at their designated polling
places. (Those states which
have same diy on site registra-·
tion had a voter turn-out which
was 16% above the national
average in 1988).
- POST CARD OR MAIL
IN REGISTRATION - simple
mail in forms would be devised
and -widely distributed which .
anow voters to register by mail .
I. 'Contin d on P e 6
Lenora
Fulani
THIS WAY
. TO �,'
EMPOWERMENT
"We say to the two American
political parties: this is their last
clear chance; they have had too
many already. These are not idle
threats. The choice is
theirs ... Those 0 still com­
mitted to a political solution
may then cross the Rubicon and
form a third political move­
ment'
But despite those words, the
convention ultimately rejected
'A study of
I
lncompeten e:
,
Detroit CA·TV Board
By David HaD_beam
Project BA.IT
If you thought that the Detroit School Board was the only
mismanaged public agency think again. The Detroit CATV
Commission is on a par with the school board 0, the cable
commission probably exceeds the school board in incom-
petence. I
At the last catv meeting the chairman (Fr) Jim Robinson
harangued the staff and bored the other commissioners and
attendees nitpicking about a sin Ie item brought up for dis-
cussion by the taff but not foun the agenda.
Robinson's incompetence at chairing a meeting is only
surpassed by his arrogance and rudeness in dealing' with
people. ave for his capacity to do baptismals for the mayor,
it is difficult to believe he would hold any public po t what­
soever.
Even so, it is hard to accommodate his appointment as
chairman of both the Detroit Cable Television Commission
and the Public Benefits Corporation (the outfit that is sup­
posed to dispense funds to community access producers at
the cable system) for such an ordinary task as pouring a Cl!P
of water over a baby's bald noggin. .
Since there is nothing apparent in his resume' that would
qualify him for either of the e dual appointments one must
assume they were a political gratuity at the people's ex-
pense. I I
One might hope that the commiss oners would provide the
"people with a progress report on e Detroit cable system,
but they haven't. .
What they do is meet monthly to abide the crass pseudo­
leadership of Jim Robinson, chairman of the Catv q:ommis­
sion.
Meanwhile the Public Benefits Corporation is sittiAg on
in excess of $350,000 which has accrued over a three
period from regular payments by Barden Cable into a d
that is supposed to support public access programming.
Three years isn't an inordinate length of time. Infants
_learn to walk and talkin that time. Farmers plant and har­
vest three crops in that time. AIDS victims usually die within
that time. . �
However, a Detroit Public enefits Corporation can't get
enough officers to hold a m ting and distribute a pittance
of monies to the people in that time.
In an election year politicians usually dole out the monies
in order is curry favor at the polls. Not so in this case. The
money is just silting in the bank, gaining interest... .. .1 think.
Can't be for sure, since there's never been a report.
One thing does happen with regularity. The CATV Com­
mission meets every second Tuesday of the month at 4 p.m.
The next meeting is May 9 in the Veterans Memorial Build­
ing. Come see for yourself.
the option of building an ind -
penden t party; instead the
delegates oPt�or the strategy
of increasin the number of
black elected fficials, focusing
their efforts on Democratic
Party.
Jesse Jackson's run for the
Presidency in 1984, and again in
1988, renewed a passjonate
debate on whether and how our
struggle for empowerment
could be successful solely within
the framework of the
Democratic Party. The insis­
tence on the P8!t of the white
pro-corporate hierarchy of the
Democratic Party that Jesse
repudiate Minister Louis Far­
rakhan during the 1984 cam­
paign heightened the feeling in
. our communities that being in
the Democratic party meant al-
lowing white America to dictate
to us who our leaders could be.
And 1988, when Jackson was
denied a place on the
Democratic ticket even though
he finished the primary season
in a strong second place, further
underscored the extent to which
the Democratic Party was intent -
. upon denying us a share of
political power commensurate
with our numbers and our loyal-
ty ..
The week of the Democratic
National Convention, at which
Jackson was unceremoniously
dumped by Michael Dukakis in
favor of the pro-contra Texas
land grabber Lloyd Bentsen,
was a flash point of national
debate within the African
CODtin d P 6
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