I.
"D DDYCOO
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SNciGl to Michigan Ciliun
·:�The concerted effort 0
Ichigan communitie to pool
ource and talent in order to
e cue the Blac male child are
�eting re i tance. F cing par­
��lar challenge i the idea that
crqdeavor to help Black male
�Qung ter must involve the
child's total environment, his
entire BI ck family, ince his
situation doesn't occur in a
vacuum. What is the nature of
thi opposition? Is it justified?
Can it be urmounted?
A touchy subject in the
Black community, never-the­
Ie , like religion, family has
ajWays been a stable fixture of
Bl c life. A cherished in titu­
tion, it h tr n mitted over
the generations those tr it , at­
tributes, nd v lue worthy of
immort lity. Whilt furthering
the interests of determined
yet truggling Black com­
munity, Bl ck f mily life al 0
delivered individual satisf c­
tions and sh red successe .
This ver ion of Black f mily
life has been on the ropes for
the past twenty years. Now, it
appe rs to be circling the
drain, about to go down.
'The "new and improved,"
lightweight urban BI c family
that's coming into vogue is a
one-parent variety that was
weaned on the '60's karma of
"free yo' mind and lose thy
soul; tis thee only way ta go."
• � I
U.S. Attorney
Stepben M rkman
h,
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.
I.
'.
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Special Alent
H I Helterhofl
.. .1 till rememb r h ring
that t cher saying,
·You're gonna b
om body, nd that (i ally
contr/but d to who I m
today,-
Gerl put her experience nd
talent to or ervin Min­
ne poli di adv nt ged familie
with young children. She et up
hop in run-down hou e.
Twelve ye r I ter Survival
Skill In titute h grown to
four hou es loc ted in poor
nei hborhood nd public hou -
ing unit to re ch her con-
tituent ,plu a farm.
Over the year Geri
developed many innovative
a
y:
While the ocial revolution
of the '60's meat-axed Ken and
Barbie attitude , the reactionary
leader of the '70' sent many of
u refugee from the "Say it
loud, 'I'm Black and proud'"
day running for cover bene th
the vows of holy matrimony and
re pon ibilitie of family life.
HOWEVER, , having long
ince discarded the values and
beliefs upon which these havens
re ted, our desperate flight into
prefabricated homes and life­
style were pre-de tined for
failure. Our marriage crashed
and burned shortly after takeoff,
the wreckage of our hope pick­
ed over by statu quo vulture
eeking to justify their couch
potato standing during the '60's.
"Love, honor, and obey "
vows of exclusive ownership
had no chance in their, valiant
fight against 0 rei ner drug
and free love hn ophies.
Especially .1 ce youth and
poverty, while ling our anger'
and hopes, only ensured
Republican victories. Because
pro r m incl udi n: teen
mothe pro r m for dole cent
mot e e 12 to 18; youth
le der hip development-readi­
ne pro r m for junior hi h
chool youth; child bu e-
ne lect intervention pro r m;
and p rentin e uc lion
pro r m to empo er nd
tren then Blac f mille
throu h BI c churches.
The underlyin me a e evi­
d.ent in her program i po itive
reinforcement. "We tre ith
parents th t they mu t believe in
them elve , they mu t believe in
Blac children, they mu t reco -
nlze the people ho will ro
up nd t ke our pI ce in the
orld," emph ize Oeri. ftWe
.tress that it' import nt to
believe in our ability to provide
our children the po itive elf
image, 0 that when they go out
in the world, they will he r our
voice, our po itive tatements,
•
g
a
g
encour In them and lettin
them no th t they re ome­
body very, very import nt."
I'
teacher her potenti
potenti 1 that every child
m ny never de elop. Geri
no encour ement help
youn children mature into
youn dult ho c n onfident­
ly f ce the orld.
She tell the p rent he
or ith ftth t our children
need to be motiv ted, to be
tlmul ted, to be loved, th tour
children de erved the oppor­
tunity to ro and develop to
their fulle t potenti 1."
Black children re born (i ht­
ing again todd th t hold m ny
back. Geri C rter ' effort re
proof th t effective Bl ck
Ie ders re re ching our com­
munitie , wor ing to m e them
tronger, e peel lly for poor
o
?
sick ability to llowe c pe from
the emptine of American bu y­
ne h I ndcd the BI c f mily
on the critical Ii t; m ive
do e of elf-love needed.
THE CAPACITY OR
loving reflects the b ic quality
of our relation hip with the per­
son who fir t cared for u , ac­
cording to child development
experts. However, thi «Ioe n't
explain how the Black family
thrived for centuries de pite
m nkind' most eart-renching
brutalltie being their lot in life.
Now, having layed many
demon and dragons, the Black
famil y face meltdown at the
hand of the toy oldier of a
"Kinder, gentler" nation!? Bush
COUldn't be so lucky ...
Trying to erve two rna ter
has alway tripped up human .
While Black parent in the heat
of a dog-eat-do economy may
ose gil i rruth, the Blick
male ch'ld ian't Ii ely to.
Similar to the kid who aw the
emperor wearing no clothe , the
Black male child notice the
II hem ov r
and ov r y
can do or b
anything hey
wan
Marian Wri ht Edleman i,
pres ident 01 the childrell',
De/en e Fund, a national voice
lor children.
bl tant contr diction bet een
obedience to 1l10r I command
and following the American
W y of gougin one elf ith
physical limul tion in que.ts
for fulfillment. The BI c Male
Chi Id come do n h rd on the
ide of t ing hi ch nee in the
re I world, aving the le -tan­
glble moral path for le in­
ecure era of hi life.
Unle we, the BI c family,
return together to the v lues nd
belief th t have erved u 0
well throughout hi tory, return
to basic , the Black Male child
and hi .generation will be the
ultim te 10 ers. By 10 ing ight
of what really matter in our
live , the BI ck f mily' future
i at ri k. While tod v' Black
family need all of the help it
c n get, much of what
ma quer de as i tance Isn't
help at all-it's ugar-co ted
poi on h t only as ist the
Blae By down the-the "ne
rid er 's" path to Oz. And
we all know Oz wa full of it,
don't we?
D.C.
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Have Nots Have Had
nough
ByRon Danle
.',
Cat�hing would-b
criminal :
The FBI ting
Crime-fighting is big business in America. Taxpayers
are digging deep to provide more and more public dol­
lars for prisons, beefed-up street patrols and to arm
police with powerful automatic weaponry. Despite,big­
ger budgets, crime flourishes as public faith in the law
enforcement agencies dwindles. This week's bizarre FBI
sting in Detroit further erodes public confidence as
another example of law enforcement run amok.
Taking the llame of a former girlfriend supplied by
imprisoned drug "lord", Rick "White Boy" Wershe, the
FBI, posing as drug dealers, hooked themselves up with
the girlfriend, who hooked them up with h�r father who
hooked them up with a police sergeant who then
provided --- for cash --- other officers to protect FBI
"drug" shipments. In all, ten would-be criminal cop were
ensnared and caught.
And what did the public gain from this expenditure of
their tax money. What public good was served by the
FBI -inspired crime. How'many real drug shipments were
stopped? How many real dealers arrested? How many
drUJ supply lines uncovered and uprooted? None. Zilch.
Zero. Drugging goes on, unabated.
If being the master-mind and ringleader of criminal
activity makes you an accomplice, then the FBI hould
be'behind bars. Re'al crime thrives while the FBI spends
tax dollars devising its own criminal schemes, getting the
would-be's rather than the real thing.
The cops in Los Angeles stood aroUnd and watched
a massive assault on motorist Rodney King and did
nothing. The law enforcement agencies there then ruled
the cops who, watched were not accessories to the be�t-
ing�ow h�re in Detroit the FBI-hatched crime catches
. ,
ten cops, yet the FBI isn't guilty of anything but doing
their job?
We don't pay the FBI to mastermind criminal activity.
We do pay them to top drug dealing. The criminals �
think of enough crimes. Let the FBI think of ways to
catch the real, not would-be criminals. What is at take
. public confidence in law enforcement.
In'what may portend a long and
very hot summer, a Latino neighbor­
hood in Washington D.C. recently
erupted in rebellion. Significant
numbers of African Americans and
whites quickly joined the outbreak of
violence which eventually engulfed
three neighborhoods.
Though the shooting of a Latino
man by a D.C. police officer w the
spark which ignited the rebellion, it
Is clear that tensions have been
mounting in the Latino community
for some time.
A pattern of police harassment
and disrespect and poor communica­
tions between the police and the
Latino community w /is a major
source of grievance and teosion.
Discrimination in hiring,
widespread unemployment and \IIl­
deremployment, inadequate hous­
ing, and the lack of health insurance
were also cited as major problems
fueling the discontent and anger
within the Latino community.
It was not surprising African
Americans al¥l some whites joined
in the rebellion. In reality the
grievences articulated by the Latino
community arc almost Identical to
the grievances felt by many among
the Black masses and indeed among
the poor and disadvantaged in
general.
RACISM, ECONOMIc ex­
ploitation and governmental neglect
have become unbearable.
The D.C. uprising may be a i80
that the have nots have had enough
and are prepared to take to the streest
to express their anger, pain, and deep
seated piration for change.
The United Sta is reaping the
bitter harvest of the blatant neglect of
the condition of Blae , minorities
and poor and working people during
ttl&. Reagan-BUSh era.
The obscene extrelllCS of wealth
and poverty which has become a fact
of Ufe In the U.S. coupled with the
drain of the budget deficit and the
bloated defense/W r budget have
created a chem try for continued
m explosions in city after city
across th' nation. No mount of per-
the genie wouldn't go back into
the bottle "Till death do u part"
was replaced by "for con­
venience sake"no-fault mar­
riage .
In return for de erting the
Black Revolution we were
promised a larger piece of the
American pie. We old out to
"the man" only to get the back of
his hand. Instead of the err­
determination we sought, we
received the opportunity to com­
pete with a' ea of other abused
minorities for a glimp e of
American utopias where the
pontaneityof life icon idered
lawles ne s. Having accepted
these bankrupt perver ion a
payment in full, we realized too
late omething was flaky: we
only got more cru t.
Today's bachelor Mom, Dis­
neyland Dad, and aogry Bl ck
male child are results of ch sing
American Dream where people
function like machlne , reI Ing'"
in an unnatural, artificial man­
ner. The same attitudes which
make " lice and dice" horror
flicks box office hits due to their
"lfthe go� rnment
cannot Inve t In
uplifting the
mas e of
. dl advantaged
citizen In this
nation th n
there will be
no peace"
onal skill or managerial expertise
by the mayors of America's powder
kegs can contajn the coming con­
flagrations.
In the D.C. rebellion, Mayor
Sharon Pratt-Dixon adopted an ap­
proach which was essentially sound.
The Mayor' Chief of Police correct­
ly observed that "people are more
important than property."
he strategy to restor eorder
placed a priority on containment,
saving human lives and avoiding
serious injury to human beings. As a
result no one was killed and there
were very few serious injuries.
WHAT WAS mi ing from the
approach .of Mayor Dixon nd other
elected officials and leaders, how­
ever, was a political analysi of the
root causes of the rebellion and a
trategy which moved beyond mere­
ly containing the violence. After all,
the people in. the treets were
responding to the violence that they
are forced to endure in their live
e ryday.
It would have been refre hing to
bear the Mayor and other leaders
draw the relationship between the
rebellion and raci m, joble nes,
poor housing, inferior education,
lack of health care etc. nd the
federal budget cu .
Washington D.C. like virtually
every other tate and city in the U.S.
i ced with a serio budget crisis.
Bl c , Latino , other minoritie
and poor nd working people are
bein forced to di proportionately
suffer as political juris�iction
reduce or eliminate social programs
�
and other ervices,
Meanwhile, the rich continue to
exempt from paying a fair share of
their income into the U.S. Treasury
in the form of taxes. And the federal
government continues to pend .50
cents of every tax dollar on the
defense/wa): budget.
IF THE government cannot in­
vest in uplifting the masses of disad­
vantaged citizens in this nation then
there will be no peace.
Mayors, governors, nd other
elected officials must recognize that
they cannot contain the volatile
situation which is fennenting am­
mong the oppressed in the U.S.
The have nots have had enough.
Mayors, governors, and elected offi­
cials will either stand on the side of
the oppressed or face the wrath of the
oppre cd as they demand justice,
respect, find human centered nation­
al priorities.
Elected officials will either be a
part of the solution or a part of the
problem. The problem i an oppres-
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VANTAGE
POINT
Ron
Daniel
sive system.
The plague of violence, crime,
drugs and drug war and rebellion will
continue to be vi ited on thi land
until there is a decisive and irre­
versible shift from a "thing oriented"
society to a "person oriented"
society. We cannot blame or contain
the victims. The have nots have h d
enough!
Ron Daniels serves as President
0/ the Institute for, Communi" Or­
ganization and Development III
Youngstown, Ohio. He may be COII­
tacted at (216) 746-5747.