byD C C.
Staff Writer
DBTROIT- The fir t of a
eries of he ring on the State
Hou '" of Repre ent tive and
Sen te redistricting proces
w s held I st Frid y in the
City-County Building.
Only seven people repre­
senting variou group and
agencies testified before the
red is tricti ng committee,
chaired by Repr.ese nt at ive
Maxi'ne Berman (D-South­
field). '
Redistricting, which t ke
place every 10 years, uses
popul tion d ta from the U.S.
Censu Bureau to redr w tate
and congre sion I legisl tive
districts.
Michigan stands to lose two
U.S. Congre smen as a re ult
.,... ... _.._"......,.. ricti . There is
o· t i .
o e five state Senate se ts and
15 House seats dependin on
what plan the committee for­
mulates in the fall, according
to Kenneth Cockrel, Jr.,
project director of the Center
for Urban Studies .
.
:. HE ASKED THE committee
to consider designating a dis­
trict "minority" if it is com­
posed of 65 percent minorities
in terms of representation.
Berman had introduced a
resolution calling on the Cen­
sus Bureau to readjust its
figures for Michigan and its
local communities to more ac­
curately reflect the state
:: .: population.
... According to Berman, over
400 communities across
Michigan have challenged cen­
sus results, with undercount
estimates as high as 180,000.
Juliette Okotie-Iboh, chief
of research for the Detroit
Planning Department, said she
was at the hearings to see that
a new legislative plan will not
unfairly affect Blacks. She
said districts have to reflect
• e population. .
SHE SAID, historically, the
Census has undercounted
I .
BI c in Detroit, citing a 12
percent undercount in 1980.
In 1990 the undercouni for
Detroit could be over 120,000,
s id Iboh, ying the city e ily
counted 43,000 overlooked
people to put the city popula­
tion over one million.
She pointed out Black are
14 percent of the state popul -
tion, and thru di crimin tory
housing pr ctice two-thirds of
them- are concentrated in
Detroit.
She aid Black in Detroit
should m ke up the majority of
districts representing Bl cks
interests, but Repre entative
Floyd Clack (D-Flint) ques­
tioned whether other Bl ck
enclaves in the state would be
properly repre ented if all
Black representatives came
from one area.
Three eoplc representin
d
,
ow
ytoz
t
Making a change for the Homeless
•
a
alam {ZOO
, speak T ur
COUCHEDBETWEENt�
life membership presentation
and the Go Getter Award preven­
tion, the humanitarian Award
- was given to Margaret Threet
Mi notl. Honored for her con­
tributfons to the Kalamazoo
Community, -M . Minott' invol­
vement includes:
Member. of Oshtemo
Township Zoning Board of Ap-
d In
Lind
pow r
:) Oll Ottll
By Danny R. Cooks
Kalamsoo ComspoNhnl
Kalamazoo's legacy of great­
ness, said, "We must keep our
attention focused on building on
our strengths, especially for our
youths' sake,.a we move toward
the year 2000. "
Banquet Ma er of
'Ceremonie Dr. Roy D. Hudson
"previewed thee evenings'
schedule of events before an in­
vocation by Rev. Donald De­
Young of Twin Lakes Reform
Church. Spiced with music and
song, including the Negro
Athemn, Lift every voice and
Sing, the Banquet's musical
selection were preformed by
Dr. Romeo Phillips and Mr.
Clarence Small; Ms. Joyce Wil­
Hams and Mr. Mikus Nelson;
and Ms. Ineta Washington and
Mr. Ben Brown.
Enlightening the public on
. problem concerning the home­
Ie s was the focus of la t
Tue day's meeting with the
Detroit/Wayne County Home­
le s Strategy Coalition. Held at
e Detroit Urban League, mem­
bers of the Coalition discu e
tactic that would infor
citizen of Detroit and other
KALAMAZOO - Minority ad­
vancement in 21st century was
the theme of the NAACP
Metropolitan Kalamazoo
Branch's Freedom Fund Ban­
quet on Saturday June Ist, at the
John T Bernhard Center at
Western Michigan University.
An ebulient welcome was ex­
tended'to an audience of approx.
350 peppered i th Kalamazoo's
best and brigbtest "movers and
shaker" by attorney Malcolm·
A. Earhart, President of the
Metropolitan Kalamazoo
NAACP.
The 1991 Freedom Fund Ban­
quet Chairperson, Dr. E'Toile L.
Libbe n, : after noting
by CARLA HUSTON
Stglf Writ�r
peals; Kalamazoo Recreation
Commi sion; local Parent­
Teacher Association (PTA)
President; Delegate to state PTA
Convention; Tru tee on the
board of the Kalamazoo Valley
Intermedia te School District;
Kalamazoo School District
Board of Education member;
and delegate to the White House
Conference on small business.
counue about the plight of
homete ne .
Herman Coleman, Chairper­
son of the Coalition said "we
have tried reaching local bust­
nes es, community service or­
ganization ,churches and others
to understand 'the homeless
ituation but that is not enough."
Coleman wants the media to
a i t by relea ing pertinent in­
formation to help the public be­
come more aware of the
D VID
WARDL W, 87: "Pray. Be
hone t and truthful, not
only to your mother nd
fa ther , but also to tbe
church. Ble ing the table
i al 0 good traini ng. "
In ddition, Ms. Minott and
hu band initiated and ran three
ucce sful bu ine ses while
raising tive daughters, a son,
and a nephew.
Keynote speaker at the Ban­
quet, Dr. Franklyn O. Jenifer,
heads the nation' mo t com­
prehensive nd hi lorically
Black univer fty, Howard
NAACP, I
situation. "The main objective is
to Increase public awarene s,
don't j t Ignore the problem,
try to do te time and skills that
would help" Id ColelDan.
Otber presenlatlons were
liven by Mite Bukin, Account
Bxecutlye for W.B. Doner cl Co.
who presented Public Service
Announcements created by • taff
memben and volunteers. The
service announcementJ exposed
•
