EDITORiAL
ri
i d P r , Benton Town hip,
nd Detroit. The crime c pit of
to fi ure rele ed thi ee.
out it?
W it for Bu d Congre to w e up nd do the
ri ht thing? W it until they re rr nge n tion I
pri ritie to include job , he lth, educ tion, child care,
th qu lily of life in Americ ?
W it until the n tion 1m di t II the hole tory of
wh t' goin on? W it until the t r tv reporter begin
to the right qu tion nd hold Bu h nd Congre
ccount ble?
Hell might chill fir t.
We can t rt t d y doing omething. In the proces
we think the crime thing will begin to e e. Becau ewe
lieve the crime thing i re lIy th only voice being
r i ed. Whil too m ny of u hide behind barred win­
do s nd peek through the curtain , the drug-crazed,
ill ducated, home e , hopele s spe k through their
violence in the neighborhood.
I Bush doe n't get hit on the head or h ve his VCR
ripped off. His sister isn't pulled into ome cr ck hou e
nd raped. His on re on the S&L take, they don't
h ve time and wouldn't get caught in the neighborhood
to have their sons ppro ched by g ngs.
No, Bush and his ilk use the crime thing to push their
own agenda. They t Ik tough and p s new I w which
only strip away personal liberties. While we struggle to
survive in the strengthening police st te the Bush
crowd enhances the freedom of corporate Americ to
kill union, steal jobs cro s the border and take un­
taxed wealth.
. What can we do? We can begin to do as NISE in
Benton Harbor and ENGLER RECALL folks in
Detroit, Highland Park and across the state are doing:
register people to vote and educate e ch other on the
issues.
Hold local politicians accountable. Unlike Reagan­
Bush economics which don't trickle down, people
power does trickle up.
Make the local officials spend that money of yours
with city firms; demand they hire city re idents; insi t
they invest not in corporate projects, but neighborhood
enterprises.
Join or organize block clubs. Meet, greet and stay in
touch with your neighbors. Talk about what the mayors
and councils are doing or not doing. Decide what you
want on your block. Decide what you have to do to get
it. Get going. .
Organize, act, speak out. 'Fake control of your block.
Soon the city will be yours. Maybe America. '
poliu 0
ocial tr n form tion will not
mana from t Republi or the
Democrats.lnd d, there j an urgent
need to h tter the t 0 party
monopoly over politi in the U.S.
A third fo QlUSt emerge which
can march in the tree well
march on ballot bo to fight for the
power to hape ne tomorrow for
poor nd working people in thi
COUDtry.
In contend that an independent
campaign for President must be util­
ized a cataly t to par a voter
revolt and ignite a movement
for ocial tansformation; a dynamic
campaign based on a fighting pro­
gram for jobs, justice and peace, a
crusade which offers a vision of the
new America-a CAMPAIGN FOR
A NEW TOMORROW.
nation.
TE new society, th
oppressed and th e who care about
the oppressed, those who yearn for
an America ere there i an end to
oppression d exploitation must
build a movement, an organization,
an i itution which can lead the
truggle for a new society.
If the new America which must be
born is to become a reality, then
those who are now th victims of
racism, exism, homophobia,
CO ST NTLY
I HAV
reiterated that an independent cam­
paign for present' not an end in and
of i elf, but a me to an end; the
building of a ne movement, with
new leadership roo d in the mass
of the people; a ne movement
which organize th people to fight
for power and governance.
Ron Daniels serves as President
of the Institute for Community 0;­
ganization and Development i�
Youngstown, Ohio. He may be co�-
tacted at (2�6) 746-5747. ..
,
?
McGriff, apply your mes age
aero s the board
Detroit's new school superintendent has created a
controversy after six weeks on the job. She told the
suburbs to butt out on the all-male academy. She chas­
tised the National Organization of Women (NOW) and
the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) for suing
to block the academy, saying they were suburban
groups meddling in city school business.
We don't agree with her on the all-male academy.
We think it avoids the real issues plaguing the schools.
And like magnet schools of a decade earlier will only
impact an elite few, leaving the overburdened schools
in the same mess hey are in today.
But we do li e McGrifrs message of butt out. If she
applies that ilosophy when it comes to spending the
school board's millions we think there is a definite
chance the schools will improve. ,
Make the teachers, administrators, staff live in the
city. Buy only front city based vendors. To have those
millions of dollars circulating in the city will have a
definite impact on the city economy. The abandoned
storefronts might fill up with busine s earning tho e
dollars in exchange for goods and ervices. The empty
homes will fill up with families. The children will come
to school through pleasant, not blighted neighbor­
hoods. Their sense of personal hope for a future of
their own will take on reality: Their fathers will have
jobs and the stresses of poverty will be lifted from their
young shoulders.
, Yes, McGrifr s message is the right one - if she
carriesIt through to its logical, best end: spend that
money in Detroit.
"Once upon a time there were three big automakers, which despite cbarging nearly tw.enty grand a car
couldn't make a buck ••• '.' . '
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I
a
v
By BENJAMIN F. CHAVIS, JR
There is a saying that "Truth
crushed to the earth will ri e again."
This is certainly the case now inside
the apartheid regime in South Africa.
After years of public denials by the
government of South Africa that it
ecretly w funding Chief Buthelezi
and his Inkatha organization to
politically and violently oPPO e the
African National Congre , the truth
is now coming out and it is Uri ing"
to bring clarity to why the violence
in South Africa i continuing.
It is if South Africa used its own
version of the United State counter­
i nrc lh gc nce program, COIN­
TELPRO. to fo ter nd ponsor the
enmity and de tructive hatred of In-
ina tow rd the African National
Congress.
W mourn and are outraged at the
thousand of innocent women, men,
and children who hav been killed as
a direct result of the apartheid
regime's ponsorship of-terrorism.
State sponsored terrorism has
now been expo ed once again in
South Africa.
How can President Bush who
speaks 0 eloquently against ter­
rori m, not move his "lip tt to
denounce the de Kler admini tra­
tion in South African for its sponsor­
ship of terrori m against the people
of South Africa?
Political trust and confidence are
not matters that can be reduced to
rhetorical appeal. Ye ,COM! ion is.
good for the oul, yet the problem
that remains in South Africa goe far
beyond President de Klerk saying,
ItWe aying, ttWe did wrong, but now
you can trust . It Today, Nelson
Mandela and millio of Africans
cannot even vote in government
elections beca e of their race; but,
this i the government that ants the
majority of the people it h dis­
cnfranchi ed to "trust" it.
The anti-apartheid movement in
the United tate and throughout the
world necd t JI f r j tice for all
o the victim of thi di bolical
sch me to top d m cracy in South
Alnc . As Ion the pre nt apart­
h id government i in pow r in South
Afn a, there will political
ta ility. Intern tional economic
an tions bouJd b maintained.
MOST FAVOR�P
NATION
Buthelezi and hi cohorts hould
be brought to trial along with their
ponsors for the countle massacres
of innocent people.
The transformation of South
Africa is a monument to the cgree
to which the force of evil are
entrenched in the internation body
politic. Racism i an international
problem and long as it i institu­
tionalized in one nation. no poe will
be free anywhere.
OF .. UR ,Presidcnt de
Klerk are nov calling for a renewed
ensc of "confiden II in the apart­
h id regime' intentions to be lair.
De Klerk con e ed, "The gov rn­
ment cpt that there ha to b
political confidenc in resp ct t th
ensitive i u 0 ret funding ... .It
i a fact that thi confiden e h� been
haken and it i nece ary to res t re
it."
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