VOL XIII NO. 14 February 24 - March 2. 1991 50 cents
elth' office, aid the Hou e
bill may not be implemented
i but it ill "get the is ues out
there."
Thl bill would redirect
. Tour promotes 'Choice'
erlt. -;-
by DERRICK C. LEWIS
SItl/lWriter
African Heritage:
Where art
meets busine s
Wi con in State Repre
entative Polly Williams was in
Detroit last Friday to push for
cbool of choice.
William was in trumental in
e tablish.ng a program in Mil ..
waukee, which allowed parents
to choose their children's
school .
Witliams proposed a voucher
program which provided for
1000 low-income students to
take $2,500 'in state school
S • CHOICE, Page 9
by GARY WATKINS
BIUinus WrittI,
interest in Africaa fabri . nus
. not a fad, the interest' here
to ray: . ,
In 1965 there one Black
museum, today there are over
190, aDd J Lewis crediD
them for tile reaewed . ill
African culture. They
wor,kiI' .' schoo
James Lewis has beea ill the
bUlines of selling African
artwork and je elry ... for is
years out of the David Whitney
Building in own Detro'
J amel Le is states that a
combination of ide
cl Dal' c:a'�.JIIi ••
0- ric
curriculm bei developed
. • the Pub' School system
a10 with rap groups that
c:IisaIu the CODtrba • of our
culture to hUJDaDity, our youth
are in ested i Iearniaa IDOI'e
about our people. "We are ill
-the midst of a revolutioD ... now
S •. ART, Page a
gran for a family of two and S40
a month from General Assistance,
. startiDg next month.
Giving a concrete example,
the Highland Park YMCA, where
e has her offices, Taylor noted
that tenants in the building would
receive $204 a moath, fot their
entire check, S91css than their relit.
Observers note that rents at the
YMCA arc relatively ]ow for the
area and tenants in other buildiap
IU
-At first the were
hot, then sales on pendants
went up, no to rs are
purchasing IDOre uplQle .
such A&ican Brass pieces.
More and more customers are
repeat purdwen. Tbcre also
has also been aD ina-eased
IUOHLAND PI(. - Detroit area
organizations arc seeking to
generate wideapl'ead opposition to
deep in social services planDed
by Michigan Governor John
EDgIer for next month.
The Detroit Urban League is
calling on citizens to write the
Governor, their state legislators
and Michigan State department
heads, urging them to oppose the
"drastic" cuts and seck alternatives
that would cause less suffering and M I- n' I- ste r
. danger for the poor.
Maureen Taylor, head of the
State Fair Branch of the t· ff It tl
Metropolitan Detroit Welfare. CU S, 0 er a erna Ive
Rights Organization (WRO) told
The Michigan Citizen that her
organization plans to start recall
petitioas to get EDgIer out of office.
She tea this will be officially
announced at a special meeting
Saturday March 2. For more
information, citizens should call ,.
her office at (313)868-3660 on Dear Governor:
weekdays durmg normal working
hours.
oppose
. Will tax ax hit bu
5?
ine
Printed is a letter the South
west Michigan Ministerial Al
Ii nee sent to Governor John
Engler, concerning proposed
budget cuts.
If cuts are ne ce sary, we
believe they should be a far a
possible from the basic need of
the people.
We therefore believe that ex
tensive cuts to the work of the
Department of Social Services
is unbeara ble for Michigan's
neediest people.
We oppose uch cut a :
-The elimination of General
Assistance;
. -Cuts to poor families
recelving AFOC;
-Lowering payments to
poor people in nur ing home ;
-Eliminating or lowering
homecare medical help.
Already our churches are
tretched t<? t_he limit in provtc
Se. MINI TER ,P.g. 10
.
by KELLI SAAM
CIJ,illd News Servic«
program was implemented in
Michigan in 1974.
Michigan is one of 31 states
that allow cities to' grant proper
ty tax abatements.
"I predict that in the next two
years you will have a debate over
eliminating industrial tax abate
ments," Hillegonds said: "There
will be very strong pressure to,
eliminate favored tre tment for
some businesses."
Tax abatements are, property
tax breaks that local govern
ments offer busines es to attract
industries to areas that migtlt
otherwise remain undeveloped.
Some Michigan resident have
had difficulty understanding
.such preferential treatment for
business since the abatement
LANSING -MiChigan resi
dents wanted lower property
taxes; and Gov. John Engler
produced a property tax cut
package.
Now House Minority Leader
Paul Hillegonds foresees a
similar public demand 'for
elimination ta break for
bu inesses, The Holland
Republican said the public will
wield a powerful sword in dlctat-
-Ing how the taxation process is
handled.
The Southwest Michigan
, Ministerial Alliance is deeply
concerned about the proposed
budget cuts offered by your ad
minis tration.
Recognizing that there are
times when governments should
attend to fiscal responslbitities,
we realize there are times that
budgets need to be cut and there
are cuts which we would sup
port. ·We are not opposed to
balanced budgets.
GRAND RAPIDS CITY As
sessor Gerald Ernst said the city
had more than 300 abatement in
effect during 1990, and more
than 320 -in 1991. The biggest
winner in abatements is Steel
case, with more than five abate
ments.
TAYLOR WARNS THAT the
governor has issued an executive
order authorizing reductions of
17%, which could cause' men, .
women, and children to be forced
out of their homes by the end of
March.
Taylor stated that according to
.... Engler's executive order issued last
week, S80 will be taken from ADC
S e TAX AX, P ge 8
AHMAD YASS: If it'.
like the U.N. propo II 1
would accept it. The -goal i
not to take Saddam Hu seiD
out of power, it' to liberate
Kuwait. I think they should
give the proposal time to be
worked 00.
CARL J CKSON: -Per
sonall y ye , peace to me i
the most. important thing.
Politically, I ay no, because
. that' not the purpo e they
went in there.
CARLISS MASSEY:
No, not if we leave him in
p,?wer. Once he gets the deal
with the Palestinians, he'll
• come back again.