._-
Opinion
InstItUtions for. Black empowerm nt:
I)uriaa the Of ..... , .. �
a nomber of AfricaD-Americfu
COJIUDum beee eel hom
the . eDCe.of local ICDDIW
and tional educatioDal in-
titutes and tr iniag centers
e . (i of
hip and skill development
trainiug proYidcct
FrcqUCDdy tIaesc centers or in I"U ........
in tit utes were organized by
cadres of political acti •
part of their programmatic
thrust.
Ideo ogicalIy these center
ranged from a civil-iigbts orien- ,
tation, to militant reformist, to
81 ck nationalism, Pan­
Africani m, and Socialism.
Ideological diver ity not­
withstanding. these centers and
institut functio ed to groom
individuals and groups for rk
Within the African-American
community, particuJarly t the
gr roots level.
The notion of being trained
to be a ·community organizer"
quite popular among c­
livi IS and aspring young
leaders in the sixties. Many of us
received our ins,piraiton and
The Supreme Court's June
5th deci ion in Ward's Cove
Plldcing Company V. Atonio .
the lat in series of setbac
for civil rights advocat The S-
4 decision' nOl only • to
the rights of omen and
minorities, bu it OYerruies ai­
m t 20 years of equal employ­
ment opportunity la .
They functioned to equip in­
terested and eager potential
workers and organizers with a
Black oriented political
ill per pective, philosophy or
·n de ideology.
IoeiI They also equipped their
On the and national trainee ith valu ble com-
levels the Political School of munity organizing and leader­
Kawaida in cwark, the Cabral ship skills and instilled a
·tu e i Washington, D.C., commitment to work and trug­
Malcolm X Liber 'on Univer- gle for the betterment of
.ty in. Greeeboro, N.C., The African-Americans" and
Center for Black Education in African-American com­
Washington, D.C. and the m�tics locally and nationally.
Urban Training Center for These centers were crucial
Christian Mission in Chicago to the success of the movement
serviced thousands of African- in the sixties.
American for or k in the As approach the decade
mmemeot fqr B 'bet3:.tion of the �eti�, any trate&), for
I Blac empowerment o! mC?4el
em�l .
. - .
for
for African-American com-
UDity mtake
into account the Deed to
properly educate aad train
people for service to the
African-American community.
nus· particularly impor­
tant for our youth. At a time
there' a renewal of c­
tivi m by African-American
young people, we need to make
certain that these young people
are prepared with an Afro­
centric per pective and the
nece ary skills to effectively
rk for Alric Il-Americ n
e fu ure
kind of directio and trainiDg
that will equip hundreds even
thousands of peop e to wor for
the improve eat of Black
people.
Of even more' impor-
tance arc centers for c�­
munity organization and
development that can provide
leadership and skill develop­
ment training at the local level.
Regional and national
centers might facilitate net­
working between the centers in
various local communities.
As African-Americana,
quit
aoother thing to kno TO
con truct t AP or pi n for action that
can produc concret re l:81t .'
Community empowerment in
this period.
The National African­
American Community needs
training centers or centers for
00 unit 0 ganization and
dcveiop ent to provide
a
,
Jim C'row?
nex
pany), the Supreme Court u­
nanimously held that Title VII
of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
prohibi employment practices
that have discriminatory effects,
as well as tho e that are in­
tended to discriminate. In other
words, many of the practices
that h \4e bee mGre dev at­
ing in excluding applicants have
been instituted in good faith,
with no mtent to discriminate.
of this hostile
I
. The deci jOlt essentially
makes it arder for minoriti
and men to use .. cs to
prove �ation, d eased
tbe burden of liability for
employCTs if they sh ed a
"re aable" business purpose
for inadequ e minority repre­
seat '00.
Witho .warrant or neces­
sity, the Reagan-dominated
decision, the Supreme Court
m de anoth�r devastating
• 011 J e 12, which gave
. . e males DeW authority to ftle
"reverse discrimination· law­
aplDS( affirmative action
(Martin . Walks). When
. on civil righu
An example would be arbitrary
height requirements that do not
effect a police officer's ability to
do a job. Thus, then Chief Jus­
tice Warren Burger wrote jn the
Griggs case, that such pr ctices
led Congress to proscribe ·not
only overt discrimination but
also pr ctices are fair in
form, but di criminatory in
practice.·
I ./.
. �.
, The Re gan-packed Court
chose to ignore the fundamen­
tal purposes of the Griggs
decision and in the ords of
Justice Stevens - one of the
four dissenters in the Ward's
Cove opinion, have embarked
on a "sojourn into judicial ac­
tivism.· Sadly, omen and
minorities are losing ground
with each Supreme Court
decision and today are hardly
better off in terms of civil rights
protections than they were in
the 1950's.
, The recent rulings are mere­
ly an extension of the Reagan
administration's leg cy of at­
tempting to roll b c affirm­
ative action programs. It is a
prime example of how a Presi­
dent can forge the philosophy of
the highest court in the land.
President Reagan, a conserva­
tive Republican, was presented
with the opportunity to select
three Supreme Court justices
(O'Connor, Scalia, and Ken­
nedy) and elevate another
(Rehnquist) to Chief Justice.
President Jimmy Carter, a
moderate Democrat, never had
an opportunity to select even
one.
We have yet to hear &0
President Bush OD thia i ue.
When asked about his thoughts
'C 20
cannot underestimate. or
neglect the !rho to" pea of
our strugie (or empowerment.
It's one thing to RAP, but i
quite another thing to no
HOW TO construct the MAP �
or plan for ction tha can
p od ee coocrete results.
How do you identify the . -
sues of greatest importance to
your community and those is­
sues that offer-the best pr pea
for SUCCESSFUL or .
How do you identify th key
center of power and inf1 ence
within your community that you
will need to be ware of you
develop a plan of . on?
techniques can be utilized to ef-
. fectively mobilize people
around an' ue?
How do you organize an
economic boyco t �or selective
buyi campaign, organize a
pi et line, or adem tration?
How do you organize. pr
conference, use media to help
you mobilize the community 0
d ign a good poster 'of leaflet
to generate support for your
mobilization? How do you plan
a workshop, a conference or a
convention? W to organize a
economic development of
educational project, how do you
go about it? Want 0 run for
public office, how do you Of­
ganize a campaign? What about
computers and the use of new
technologies in our political
empowermen tr egi ?
Building center for com­
munity organization and
development in communities
acros thi country where
people can be equipped with
the-philosophy ofh"beration and
the too to chieve our libera­
tion is a major priority for B
empowerment.
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