-An Ir
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Don
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Cable t.v. m gna e Don Barden rabbed dlin recently with n
ppeal for ummit meeting of Detroit's top corporate and civic leaders
to d the economic vitality and bad image of the city.
Barden' rldng up the WIOn tree, Ingi the wrong tune, televis-
on the ron cbanDel.
o more ummit" meetings. Case one million dollars pent
within the toto three years drawin up a "Strategic Plan· for
Detroi.
With the pi all of the bigwi got k) make omcial their wan and
for the city. And wt tin somewhere gathering d t.
What been lacking and sorely needed' a roo convention.
A mee of dvic gro and bloc c1u .
Convene a community co • Mate it democratic. Allow for
input on the a nda ead of time. Provide the opportunity for
roo co truction of a platfo just the politic::al parties do
every four years. Then let community gro deba1C, &mend, reject
or Keept pI for the city.
Just DO city wever built by divine decree, uccess never came
from the top down.
Tbe city of Detroit, and too m yother predominantly Black citi�
all function the same way. The people who have left and moved out re
ked to mo ecisions that affect who still live here.
Let th on the bottom meet and make plans.
Then u,c ey to meeting's success will be the degree of the city'
committmcnt to upport wbatever plan the community develops.
Will the f t cat corporate beads and out-of-touch politicians listen to
the people? Only when they do will something meaningful begin to
happen in Detroit or other inner-cities.
Wa W
orw n't h ?
There' a link between the case of Joanne W the Famungton Hills
woman who is either a victim or instiptor of the June 28 beating
downtown following the fireworks and the call of Don Barden for a
ummit meeting.
The Detroit police have reopened the W investigation after two
bartende at the Omni stepped forward and said the suburban woman
and ber daughters were drinking t the Omni bar, got belligerant nd
poured beer on the girls now sitting in j '1 for the beatinp.
Whatever the eta tum out to be, and it is very likely that the
Detroit girls have id from the get-go, they ere provoked by racial
remarks, there is another polnt in all this to consider.
And that point' linked to Don Barden's call for a meeting of bigwigs
to refocus the image of the city.
To date, Detroit -like most Black cities- has spent the bulk of its
disposable resources trying to lure the Joannc Was's of the world to their
downtowns ..
Concentrating on car races, yuppie condo developments, and touristy
attractions is an effort to get those who do not want to be here, back to
town,
The attitudes of hostility and racism that drive people from the
centers of civilization to the uburbs are still wi th tbem when they return.
All the city gets is a lot of hostility and bad pre . Bad return on the
investment.
To us it makes far more sense to pend city resources on those who
are here. The resources belong to them. Wby chase the suburbanites?
The foc is wrong. Tbc cmis that Detroit i tI)e result of these'
misguided policies.
,\
INTRODUCING'
ITTLE
. ,
DRoDEBa<AH
MCGRIFF
HellO O� THE DE71aJir
l3oA/l.O of EOI.JCATiOttJ
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VIEWS OPINIONS
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tutori W
ubjec .
Anchoring the concept ould be
the P enee of articulate' true 0
and disciplioari
. In the proposal, the Roberson
Academy to be all-male, with
WHEN I SAY MY JUDl�
DECISIONS Will BE BASED ON
NAl�R�\' lAW, AU. I'M �Y'N�
IS T�"l fll lISTEN 10 T��l
unu V IN MY "E��
T��T TEllS ME ROO
f�W s,
HOWEVER, on balance, Wat-
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Dr. MQlUling Marabl is Profes- ;'
or otPoliticalScumce and History, :
Univer ity 0/ Colorado, BoulMr.:
"Along 1M Color Line" appears in:
over 200 publications Uuunation-'
ally, and is also broadcast over ra- :
dio tations throughout the United;
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BY MEYER.
Th
truggl
in
ByBENJANONF.CHAvm,�
'It is no doubt that the island na
tion of Bermuda is one of the most
beautiful places in the world. With a
small national population of approxi
mately 65,000. persons, this nation
has a remarkably high standard of
life as compared with other nations
of the developing world.
THE MAJORITY population in
Bermuda' the indigenous African
. Caribbean people. Iu the winds of
change are blowing trong through
out the world, there is one unique
characteristic of Bermuda that is
becoming more glaring, notwithstand
ing Bermuda's natural beauty, na
tional wealth and high standard of
living. It' the' ue of continued"
colonization" and the denial of Ber
mudans the right of selfdetermiDa
tion.
Bermuda today is one of the few
remaining "colonies" in the Western
Hemisphere. Great Britian has not
entertai.Ded fteedom and iDdcpeDd-
. nee for Bermuda.
Again, this ituation is in t-
ing, to ay the least, after hearing all
of the valiant calls for "freedom and
independence" of the nations of t-
em Europe.
sur, THE SITUATION in Ber
muda involves more than the Brit
ish. The flag of the United States can
be een flying prominently through
out the nation. it is good for the
British, the Americans, and all the
others who have "flocked" to Ber
muda to want to have a "good" rela
tionship with the people of this na
tion. Our concern is the plight and
the truggle of native "Bermudiam"
for justice, self«terminatioD, free
dom, empo ermcot, prosperity ao4
100 Ddcnce.
good Q is that there is a
"justice movement" in Bermuda
which is being led by the leaders of
Bermuda's labor movement.
UNDER THE joint sponsorship
of the Bamuda 1mlus1dal Union (BRJ)
and other labor union, we ere able
to see first band the "beauty" and the
" truggle" of Bermuda. The 1991
Labor Day activities in Bermuda
revealed a tremeDdo eof oli-
darity amo ao4people
of Berm 0 theLabor
Day celebration was; "Labour: Ber
muda's Future."
UltimateLy it will be the people
rmuda
of Bermuda who will. determine
Bermuda's freedom, independence
and future. It is important for sisters
and brothers here in the United States
to express our support for the work
ers and people of Bermuda. The cell
for greater justice and 'freedom is a
worldwide call that has to be issued
in all nations.
Bermuda has the potential to be a
great guiding light for the entire
Western Hemisphere. In order for
this potential to be realized, there
must be economic and political jus-
,
Benjamin F .. :
,
Chavis Jr. :
CIVIL ,
RIGHTS
I
,
I
tice for the people of Bermuda.
I
WE SAY "power to the people"
to the people of Bermuda beca e
their freedom. and truggle is Qur
freedom and struggle. .
('... .
�n-M\U ry
ts t\�e liryht
thnt l�nrt +o
� .( \'1-ythi H rJ [o .( h\ "
/
- �Firnt\ Provtrb
"
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