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Homeless people take matters i
By R Ealo
Correspondelll
DETROIT -"Coleman says
CUT BACK ... we say FIGHT
BACK!" shouted members
of the �ayne County Union
the Homeless (WHU),
ho went ahead with their
lans to implement their
inter Offenses, in an all
out effort to find residences
for the increasing number of
homeless persons in Detroit.·
On Monday March 5, the
WHU began its seige against
home less ness by opening the
door of boarded up, aban­
doned, and vacant houses for
homeless use in the Detroit
area.
WHU President Wayne
Pippin said that the Union
followed proper procedures,
according to Mayor Coleman
Young and Housing Director
Tom Lewis, prior to this
action. but received no
respon e.
"Coleman Young said he
would give the Homeless
Union 250 homes to make
use of o " that we don't
freeze this winter," said
WHU Vice President
Nathaniel Thomas, "so
we're just helping him keep
his promise."
IN S OWY, TEN degree
temperatures, approximately
30 homeless persons rallied
outside the home they'd
seized at 5286 Marbourough
on Detroit's eastside. .
One homeless person,
Freddie Chase, said, "We
need homes because there
are a lot of people dying out
here. It's cold as you can see
and we're just trying to do
what's necessary for our
people; that's what this
demonstration is all about."
Thomas said March 5,
marked the beginning of
their campaign to find
homes for the homeless. He
said the campaign will end
when WHU's demands are
mel.
He assured that, .. Even if
it takes two years, five years
or one hundred years, from
now on every week we are
going to take three or four
houses till we open up every
boarded up house in
Detroit. "
Thomas maintained that·
homeless people should have
access to the houses, as
they, in better times, paid
taxes for just such emergen­
cies.
He asked what sense it
made for the homeless to
have to stay outside and
freeze while many houses
remained boarded up and
'"contractors make a bundle
oCf of them."
THOMAS SAID, "Ac-
heir own ha
d
cording to letter from the
Secretary of the Department
of Hou ing and Urban
Development (HUD) Jack
Kemp, the Stewart Mc­
Kinney Act and Tille Five,
all public property is sup­
pose to be made available
for homeles u e. and that's
what we're fighting for."
Pippin said WHU is
scheduled to meet with
Mayor Young and other City
officials regarding the home­
less issue on Friday, March
9 at 12:30pm. He said the
Union-expects to be present
but will bear in mind the
officials' tendency to cancel
without notice ..
He said "If our voices are
not heard at the meeting it is
because Young and com­
pany, not WHU, cancelled."
Wayne County Union of Ho eles members demonstrate their Intentions to open vac nt
HUD home for,lIving they m �h in front of elzed home on Detroit' e tside.
� .'
peopte'« knowledge
Highland Parker reppin'
DETROIT - Being rowdy has
really paid off for Don "�jco"
Brent.
Better known as "Kaos" of
the rap group "K os and
Mystro," Brent ha no only
pre ed recent album, but
several i sue facing the
African-American community
well.
His video has whirlwinded
the city hitting, r dio stations,
local dance shows and cable
television's pay video channel.
A former Country Day stu­
dent and a graduate of High ..
land Park High School, Brent
said the change in environments
helped form worldviews ex­
pressed through his rap.
(Country Day) was too
Eurocentric. I didn't like the en­
vironment," Brent said. "(I)'just
I
from 0
gl)
felt the rejection . . . like n----­
you aren't suppose to be here. I
knew it was not for me."
Not feeling comfortable in
. white-suburba didn't effect
Brent's grades, just his dispo i-'
tion.
"I maintained my grade point
average, but I had a chip on my
shoulders," he said. "I always
had this hunger for knowledge.
I had a thirst for it, but I never
has the right drink ... the right
food to nourish me."
Fighting with racist students
and arguing with Eurocentric­
minded teachers caused Brent
to leave Country Day and the
. area altogether, he said. ·
Moving to Highland Park,
seeing the inequtities in life­
styles inspired Brent to try and
make a change in the d mal
lives of urb n African
Americans, he . d ..
"I me what my job ,"
Brent proclaimed. "My primary
focus (was) 0 the youth." .
He ran for cl presi dent
and unamiously won. his fir
� year at Highland Park. The stu-
I dents instantly came to know
him for his outspo eness, his
knowledge of African­
Americanism and his uncanny
ability to message-rap back in
the late 1980s before groups like
Public Enemy and Boogie
Down Productions came aero
the national airways.
Brent attacks the Detroit
blic Schools system specifi­
qilly, blaming it" lac of quality
curricula and not preparing tu­
dents 0 survive in the 19905 ..
"I saw the differences be­
�n white life and black life,"
hb said. I saw ho far behind
e school system was whites
le not more intelligent just
tter equipped in a better en­
omnment."
His lyrics educate listeners
out historical African­
erican figures who can't be
f und in student books, Brent
s . d.Mos of his songs feature
t e cry of urban African-
erican youths who feel that
eyre not given a chan to
s cceed in life.
The youth today re eng ed
i a new revolution, he said.
ey are caught between ra .
in itutioas and older Afri
ericaas who do ot lisle to
th m.
"You're never too old to
le n," he said of the elde .
ey are not able to relate 8nd
are not giving back to the com­
munity. (They) must rally
. d the youth because' that's
ere the power is ... todays
yo th refuse to be poor ... they
wi do whatever it takes not to
st,¥",e (such sell drugs).·
The entire album spe to
lh mental and h . cal condi­
ti n of Afric n-American
people in Detro t, Brent said.
Quoting P blic Enemy's
lead rapper, Chuck D, of New
York, saying African
Americans must "do knowledge
and not just kick it." Brent has
formed a group, Strength of the
Black Youth, which goes
around to schools to create
dialogue with tudents.
"You judge a person by the
friut they bear," he explained,
African-Ameri s must posi­
tively effect th ir people to
liberate the enti community.
Brent advo tes city pride
and buying fr m Afric n­
American businesses which he
does with one stone in his videos
by donning outfits purcha eel­
from Stricly Sportswear located
in Highland Park, Mich.
Always wearing a hat, jacket
or pants with Detroit's name
printed on it, Brent said he
wants the nation to ociate
him with the city.
"There is no re son for
Blacks to (buy) anywhere other
than Black," he said.
His music me age on .
- fir t album is enormo and the
group's popularity is even big­
ger. The rap , all written by
Brent, teaches African­
American history and street­
wise knowledge to everyone
who ventures into the "Outcast"
lyrics and beats.
Brent along with" y tro"
Jason Wilson, the disc j ckey,
are currently w rking on a
second album.