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Opinion/Commentary Editorials Letters
Ies C. Digs, lpuuDu Amiii, the conference chambers. In
Barak&, Hatcher and a host of seventeen years some things had
other leaders bad called the changed, but mu remained
P ed ith a deepening conYeDtioo to shape a "Black the same.
erisi . charaete ized by a grow- Agenda" and to forge strategies At Gary, the Co vention had
ing economic underclass, dras- for African-American em- declared that -the crises we face
tically �terioratiDg inDer-city powerreent and Iopment Black people are the aises '
ghetto neighborhoods, an ex- The preamb e the Gary of the entire society. They go
plosion of drugs, violence, aime Declaration offered a profound·
and a dramatic widening of the an a Iys . of the nature of the
gap between the haves and the problem facing the Black Na­
have n in the ational Blac lion. "A 8la P ··cal Conven­
Community, hundreds of tion, indeed II truly Blac
African-A ri heeded the politics must begin with this
call of former Gary Mayor' truth: The American system
Rich rd Gorden Hatcher to does not work fOT the masses of
come to ew Orleans for an our peopl , and it canot be
African-American Summit made to work without radical
It was time once again to fundamental change".
reinitiate the process of Black As the deleg tes gathered in
ational r newal
ew Orleans it w abundantly
Seventeen years ago it was clear that this basic proposition
Hatchel' ho had graciously has not changed. Speaker after
consented to co-convene and speaker rose to address the
host the historic Gary ational frightening and escalating crisis
Bla Political Conv
1972. More than ",u�'!�l.Ir.wlU facing African-Americans, ar-
- ticu r our chit n and our
Americans conve
seeking to find ers to the you .
crises still confronting African- Over and over again the an- deep to the very ones and mar- tional priorities and a fatally
. guishing cry of, how will we save row, to the essential nature of flawed economic, political and
Amencans in th t period. Cong, . d
our chil ren echoed throughout Americas economic, political cultural system --: the American
--=---�a---=--tl·-o-n-a· -I ---=-'tr-u-t ____:_:_-. �= �o:'�; .to rail the
But something else is also
wrong. Somewhere along the
f d f d· t · path to "success" the African-
un 0 r e U C a I 0 n" American nation has lost its
w y. Th I ce of a Blac agen­
d as a basis for political.
mobilization to project and
• pro eel our interest as a peopl
a maj r contribution of the ary
Conventi n. Overwhelmed by
the "illusion of progress," the
idea of a Blac agenda, and
more importantly the proce
for developing a Black Agenda
h becom I ss prominent in
our strategic thinking. In the
19 pre idential camp ign the
concerns of African-Americans
were eldom noted by either
political party. Black is ues,
Black interests, the Black Agen­
da was no longer popular or
practical within the fram work
of mainstream politics. Richard
Hatcher begged to differ. It was
dangerous to be caught without
a Black Agenda. Hence the ur­
gent need for the Summit
Other lessons al 0 faded
from our collective memory.
For more than two decades Dr.
Maulana Karenga, the creator
of Kwanza has preached that
"the cultural crisis is the key
crisi in Black life."
Karenga h consistently
warned us that if we cannot win
the troggIe for the hearts and
minds of our own peop e, then
we cannot pouibly hope to win
omeon was once credited
" with ying, "it ouuld be nice
for a change to see schools get
everything they need and 1 1 the
defense department hold ba e
les to pay for dubious
weapons systems like the MX
nd tar War ." It is interesting
to he r political leader
throughout the country say all
these great things about educa­
tion only to become evasive
when you start talking bout
how to pay for the effort
The School Improvement
Act (Public Law 100-297),
which I authored was one of the
first real, turnarounds in terms
of increasing federal funds for
education. As our budget
debate begins we must now see
if funding levels match the
education rhetoric. Remember
when candidate George Bush
avoided Dan Rather's direct
que tioning, about the han
COntra affair on the CBS Even­
ing e , by s yin that he
anted to - about educa-
tion"? The problem is that
everybody wants to about it
- but oobody to follow
11
through with adequate funding.
In last wee 's column, I dis­
cu d how President Bush'
budget represents a real cut in
federal educati n programs.
Don't be fooled with statem nts
such as, e are spending more
on education than ever be or."
Th t is true only when you count
all local, state, and federal
education funding together.
Also, we have more people in
our nation than ever before
which make his statement
grossly misleading.
The bottom "line is that the
federal share, in the "ush
budget, is a cut even below
Ronald Reagan's outgoing
budget. We must remember
that it is this federal commit­
ment that is so crucial in meet­
ing the needs of disadvantaged
children. In addition to existing
education program increases,
as detail d in my recommendaf
tions to the Congress, we should
discuss the possibility of in­
stituting a national education
trust fund to upplement the
present federal education ef­
fort. There are a number of dif­
ferent possibilities aD how
can raise money for the trust
proc.
'ion ."1. re
/
and cultural systems.. They are
the natural end products of
society built on the twin fouada­
tio of white r cism and white
capitalism",
Seventee years later it .
also abundantly clearer that
failed polici S, misplaced na-
fund; floating bond direct tax,
checkoff on your tax form, etc.
There appears to be a b ic
ground swell of support by the
American public about the need
to invest more in education.
Therefore, if the current budget
deficit is thwarting the means to
put m re funds into education,
perhaps we should explore an
alternative route that would
d dicated solely for educati nal
purpo es, with the clearer un­
derstanding that this money
should supplement - not up­
plant - existing efforts.
The idea is not without
precedent. We currently have a
High y Trus Fund which is
money dedicated exclusively to
improve the condition on our
highway infrastructure. If
hold the view that education is a
means by which we build d
strengthen our nati n, then the
idea of a national education
trust fund ought gain our atten­
tion for further discussion. We
already know more than e
need to know about helping
children achieve in chools. We
now need the money to do it.
,
of
0/
the struggle for economic and
political develop ent. oling
tha Vt'e have strayed from these
essential principles Romonia
Edelin, the DC Director of the
National Urban Coalition
added her voice and energy to­
the call for the Summit Sis er
Edelin forcefully argued the
need for a new African­
American "Cultural Offensive­
as a part of stragegy for nation­
al renew L
Indeed that was the most
positiv dimension of the w
Orleans Summit - the search
for national revival, renewal and
restoration. Som notabl na­
tional leaders may not have
shown up and the attendance
may no have been m ive as
the Gary Convention, but t
New Orleans gan to redis­
cover th basi tenets\ required
for our s rv iva I and develop­
ment. A Black Agenda; the Cul­
tural Offensive; networ ing;
and a renewed recognition that
"power concedes nothing
without a demand." Where
there is no struggle, there is no
progress.
Despite its limitations the
ummit in New Orleans marks
n important first step in the
process of refocusing our allen­
ti n on the fundamental chan­
ges which are required in ord r
to liberate the masse of
African-Americans from
hunger, homelessness, poverty,
disease, illiteracy, crack, aim
and violence. The challenge
today' no less imperative than
it was at ary .•
'The American
system continues
to fail' our I people. '
"It is the chal-
to consolidate our own
Bla role the vanguard for a
new oci ty". The tide of history
� turned us in the right direc-
D.
Ron Daniels served as the
Director of the National Rain­
bow Coalition and as the deputy
Campaign Manager for the
Reverend Jesse J acks on 's
Presidential Campaign '88. He
has served as President of the Na­
tional Black Assembly and as
chairperson 10 the National
Black Independent Political
Party. Currently, he serves as
President of the Institute for
Community Organiuuion and
Development in Youngstown,
Ohio. He may be contacted (216)
746-5747.