" ·oln
h
II
I»y M rI Wri bt Edelman
: Ma y communities have
their share of young men who
are chool dropout,
tro ub l e m k e rs , or un-
employed with time on their
hand. Sometime their
nighttime activitie tend to be
destructive rather than con­
structive.
But what kind of late-night
activity appeal to young
Black men and keep them out
of trouble?
B ketball.
A Chicago housing
development modeled it Mid­
night Basketball League
(MBL) after a Maryland pro-
ram. This popular activity i
played during the time of day
when many young men are
turning to ri ky behavior.
! Chic go' initiative ta rgets
Black men in their late teens
and early twentie in hopes of
providing them not 'only a
un, but tructured activity.
nd once the young men are
n hi turf, the program's
co mmt ss io ne r, Gil Wal ke r,
calls the hot.
THE VAST majority of
Chicago's participants live in
tae Henry Horner and Rock­
well Gardens housing
development, where 85,000
are residents under 18. Gil
knows large numbers of these
y.oung men join gangs for a
sense of belonging, or for
l.ck of anything better.
"I don't care wh a t gang
they belong in," says Oil.
"Now they belong in the
MBL. That's our gang."
Program organizers stress
that basketball i more than
just a hook to attract young
men to the program-s-I t has
specific goals.
_ MBL provides comprehen­
slve evening programs as an
alternative to criminal ac­
tivlties for young male adults
b.etween 18 and 25 years of
age; an environment where
young adult leadership can
develop through sports; a net­
work and variety of support
se rv i c e s which can have a
positive impact on the
participants' quality of life;
and a structured activity
which is very intense as well
as demanding of discipline
and character.
. Players are also briefed on
.other services offered through
life skills training, vocational
training and counseling, sub-
IV SlAMA'"
tance abu e coun eling,
dult education/OED, and a
variety of other area .
ONCE THE young men are,
part of the league, they must
abide by the rule . Everyone
mu t participa te with a posi>
tive attitude to remain part of
the basketball team. Anyone
di covered u ing drugs or al­
cohol is upended per­
manently.
By MBL' econd sea on,
there was a harp decli ne in
reported crime, but crime ha
not gone away. Gil recog­
nize it limitations. "You
can't overcome years of
denial with a few months of
basketball" Many of these
guys aren't ready for a job
that isn't hustling on the
street ."
But he' pleased with the
self-improvement efforts
among some of the players.
Almost one-third of last
year's players registered for
adult education clas es after
Marian
Wright
Eldelm n
CHILD
WATCH
the season ended-and 27 got
jobs.
Community upport ha
been tre me.ndou . A Chicago
Defender poll revealed that
85 percent of the community
believes the program has
given youths an opportunity
to get involved in a positive
and constructive ctivity.
Oil Walker's enthusiasm
and energy is . help­
ing Black youth find the path
to a better future for themsel­
ves and for America.
Marian Wright Edelman is
pres i dent of the Children's
Defense Fund, a national
voice for children.
From our' readers ...
Rough time
By Teresa Ott
Contributing Writer
War broke out in the Gulf.
HUndreds of men and women left
their homes for sandy surroundings
with their destinies unknown, but
willing to fight for their country and
beliefs.
Families waited with
anticipation and anxiety wondering
when and if their loved ones would
be returning home. Oil and gas
prices rose, sales of the American
flags skyrocketed like never before
in history. A country came together
to show support of our troops and of
our President's devastating choices.
p
Part One
munity is.
The following re e mples
of Health ar MISERY RE­
SEARCH th t arc often cited
whenever our communi tie are
discu ed. HILTON: HIGHER
EDUCATION continue to go on
record a questioning the "com­
plete" purpo e of these tate­
ment.
FO TUN AT ELY, there are
profe ional health care orgniza­
lion that arc countering much of
this misery re earch and pre ent­
ing orne of the arne informa­
tion with an affirmative
approach.
Two such organization are
tion onference)
-Violence i tbe le ding
cue of de th mong BI c
(m le and female) ed 15 to 4.
( CHE)
-BI c re di propor-
tion tely f ected by AIDS.
They re three time more li ely
to b t ri for the di e e, nd
currently make up 24 percent of
all ca e ,though only 12 percent
of the population. (NCHE)
-78 per�ent en b bie born
with AIDS re BI c or
'Hi p nic, 38 percent of II adult
with AIDS are Blac or Hi p nic
and 80 percent of IV drug u er
with AIDS re Blac or
Hi p nic. (U.S. Department of
Health nd Human Services)
-The tatistic are not en­
couraging; allied heal th enroll-
h O.
Hilton
HIGHER
EDUCATION
men of minoritie
th e ely 19 e not yet
bounced b c . ( CHE)
- lthou b Americ n e Ith
c re h m de gre t tride in the
p t three dec de , minoritie -
e peci lly BJ c -h ve not
benefited from the e dv nc to
the degree th t hi te b vee (Of­
fice of inority Health, U.S.
De p rtment of He I th nd
Hum n Service)
-A deere ing proportion of
Bl c tudent re entering
medic I hoot de pi te n in­
ere e in the number of minority
applicant and a ri e in core on
the Medical College Admi ion
Te t (MCAT). J(The Robert
Wood John on Foundation, NJ)
HILTON: HIGHER EDUCA­
TION i de i ned to dialogue
with college and world readers.
Education is ongoing and cer­
tainly not limited to school class­
rooms. Let's talk. (714)
899-0650.
Debate Over 91 Civil
by Benj min F. Chavis, Jr.
We trongly uppo rt and
encourage the enactment of a
strong Civil Rights Bill thi
year. The Civil Rights Act of
1991 i designed to prevent
employment discrimination
based on race and other fac­
tors. The emerging debate
concerning thi legi 1 lion
expose the poli tical a ne mpts
to deride and avoid the 'essen­
ti al is ues.
Does the President of the
ahead
The Tunica Indians Jived in
the northwestern part of the
state. Tunica, Mississippi is
named for them. The Choc­
taw lived in the northeastern
part of the· state and the
Natchez in the south.
THESE INDIANS were
proud farmers, not wildly
painted, tomahawk winging,
scalping, tee pee living
avagc as the Hollywood
movie' portrayed them. Their
This was a very traumatic time
for all, but life still went on here at
home, where we're facing our own
personal war.
Major cutbacks under Governor
John Engler s budget plan. Cutting
welfare recipients, closing of state
prisons and mental health facilities,
and putting more in the
unemployment lines. '
We are facing a painful reality
with tough times and difficult
choices. Wit!t just some of these
many cuts, people now have fewer
places to tum to for help. Now,
where do they go and what wilJ they
do? There are jobs out there, but no
where near enough of them for all
the people this will effect, to help
make a difference. Truly things
need to be done, but not at the price
of our society, where we pay for it
time and again.
A country comes together for
peace and hannony across the seas,
now it's time for all to conie
together at home and ave
ourselves. We need our jobs and
facilities for all.
It takes a job to earn money to
spend and money to make money. A
country needs it to survive because
without it, we can't!
Foo�rinffi� _
by SHIRLEE JENKINS.
As African-Americans we
have a duty to preserve all of
our heri tages.
We must dig our history out
of old trunks, basement, at­
tics and especially from the
mind of older relative,
Many of u .living in
Michigan have an ancestral
hi tory with the tate of Mi -
sisstppi and the native Indians
there.
rich hi. tory is mostly forgot­
ten. I am very proud of my
Tunica and Choctaw heritage.
One of the many Choctaw
words of wi dom passed down
through my family is "Never
forget the footprints. 0 the
path ahead may be clearer".
For my children I have coi­
I e c ted ten gene rat i 0 n 0 f
footprints; six documented
through picture found in a
old trunk in Missi i p p i ,
even through U.S. cen u
report, others from listening
to legend. told by the family
r em e m b e r e r s , my great
grandmother, grandmother,
mother and my dear ninety
year old great aunt, Idel!a, on
her front porch during um­
mers in Cleveland, Mi issip­
pi.
.Hopefully the light that
gleam in my aunts eyes when
-he i showing the preciou
momento once belonging to
her grandparent, a Choctaw
Indian and a slave bought in
Alabama, and telling the c­
companying tory will one
day 'hin in mine if I become
a family memb . The f8(11i­
ly hi tory has been docu-
mented and recorded.
Mo t familie have a offi-
cial "rememberer". Find
your.
We are who we have been.
.'
"
United State support the ef­
forts of the Congre of the
United State to ay no to
employment discrimination?
Doe Pre ident Bu h support
efforts to in ure greater racial
ju tice and equal opportunity
in employment? The Civil
Right Act of 1991 addre ses
these i ue.
What wa the re I rea on
the President vetoed the Civil
Rights Act of 1990? In the
wake of ma ive participation
b y A f ric a n Arne "r i can san d
other racial and ethnic sol­
dier in the Gulf War, will the
Com m a.n de r - i n - Chi e f vet 0
again thi important legi la­
lion?
At a time when une mploy­
men tie s ca l a tin g in the
African American community,
why is there- a debate about
the importance of this bill
even among some African
Americans?
FOR EXAMPLE, noted
Washington Post columnist
William Rasberry has written
two widely published rticles
rai ing questions about the
"priority" and "importance"
of "the Civil Rights Act of
1991. Although Rasberry
state he supports pa sage of
the bill, he ha rai ed que -
tions about the wisdom of'
making the bill a top priority
of the civil rights movement
over other i ues.
Rasberry stated, "my argu­
ment i not that civil right
remed ies are passe'; it i that
civil rights violations, which
once were our No.1 problem,
no longer are." Ra be r ry a ls o
has as umed that the employ­
ment discrimination which
the Civil Rights Act of 1991
seeks to prevent "principally
affect' the Black middle
class."
We have in the past ad­
mired Ra berry's journali tic
courage on i ue of ju rice,
yet we do not under tand or
agree with his limited
analysis concerning the im­
portance of the Civil Right
Act of 1991-
irst, if at a time when the
jo le nes ra te in the Africa n
American community is twice
the unemployment rate of
White Americans, then why
should the Civil Rights Act to
prevent employment di­
crimination not he made a top
priority.
Second, no one in th�
leader hip .of the civil rights
movement today ha aid pa -
age of thi bill i the only
priority; but, more important­
ly, it would be a tr gic mi -
take not to make pa age of
the Civil Right Act a top
priority.
ight
Benjamin
Chavi
•
THIRDLY, the nature of
the problem of racism and in­
justice in America ha not
changed. Yes, there ha been
progress.
Yes, there i a growing
African American middle
class; but, to assert that "civil
rig h t s v. i 0 I a t ion s " are no
longer the No.1 problem con­
fronti ng African Americans is
to mi state reality. revi e his­
tory and to miss the trag ic
prevailing truth: the myriad
of social, economic, and
pottttcat problem that con­
tinue to con ign the vast
majority of African
'Americans to poverty, un­
employment, lack of health
care, brutality. di crimination
and exploitation are all func­
tion of institutionalized
racism.
No, the nature of racism in
America ha not changed.
The passage of the Civil
Right Act of 1991 i not
being propo ed the "final"
act to rid the nation of all ra­
cial di crimination, but it is
an important tep forward.
Bush's veto la t year of the
Civi 1 Right Act wa a tragic
step backward.
Finally, brother William
Ra berry i in need of our
prayers. But. Ra .herry i. not
the real problem. the problem
'i the increa ing ocial and
political backlash-again t ra­
cial justice in America.
One factor of the olution
is the need to increa e the
mobilization of our con-
tituencie to retake the moral
high ground and to demand
the pa age of the Civil
Right Act of 1991 in the in­
te re t of equal ju lice for all.
Tune In Citizen .
columnl t
Deborah Culp and William
Lee, col umn is t for the.
M i chi g an Cit i Z'C n wi 11 be
guests on the radio how "Or­
dinary People" broadca t on
W.D.T.R., 90.9 PM on April
26 from 3 to 4 p.m.
Show ho t Selma Ma ley
will di cu s Culp' "E sential
Bit & Piece" and Lee's
"Mu Ic Matter" columns that
appear wee ly